Photon total angular momentum manipulation

Abstract

As an inherent degree of freedom, total angular momentum (TAM) of photons consisting of spin angular momentum and orbital angular momentum has inspired many advanced applications and attracted much attention in recent years. Probing TAM and tailoring beam's TAM spectrum on demand are of great significance for TAM-based scenarios. We propose both theoretically and experimentally a TAM processor enabling tunable TAM manipulation. Such a processor consists of a set of quasi-symmetric units, and each unit is composed of a couple of diffraction optical elements fabricated through polymerized liquid crystals. Forty-two single TAM states are experimentally employed to prove the concept. The favorable results illustrate good TAM state selection performance, which makes it particularly attractive for high-speed large-capacity data transmission, optical computing, and high-security photon encryption systems.