Optical beams endowed with orbital angular momentum: generation, some new appication, and outlook

Abstract

The study of optical beams with orbital angular momentum (OAM) has gained the interest of researchers since the seminal work of the Woerdman group in Leiden in 1992. These beams have been used as optical tweezers, as a tool for high-resolution nanoscopy, as a new instrument for increased angular resolution measurement, and as a resource for increased channel capacity in optical communications and high-dimensional information carrier for diverse applications in quantum information science among others. In this presentation, I will introduce beams with OAM, their properties and peculiarities. I will talk about how these beams are generated with a focus on the coherent generation of these kinds of beams using sum-frequency generation. I will discuss the applications of these beams in detecting spinning object, and as pointer states to probe joint weak value in weak measurements. I will end my talk with possible directions for this field of research.