Momentum transfer in a standing optical vortex

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a standing optical vortex transfers angular momentum to matter without displacement, enabling potential applications in 3D optical trapping and vortex formation.

Contribution

It demonstrates that a standing optical vortex can transfer orbital angular momentum to substances without causing movement, revealing new possibilities for optical manipulation.

Findings

Standing optical vortex possesses circulating energy flux.

It transfers angular momentum without moving the substance.

Potential for creating 3D optical traps and vortices.

Abstract

A field superposition of singular beams incident on, and then reflected from a mirror has been investigated. It was demonstrated that the standing optical wave, which contains a vortex, possesses an orbital angle momentum where the energy flux circulates only in the azimuth direction of the beam. We show in this paper that the standing light wave containing the optical vortex transfers angular momentum to a substance located in the field of the vortex without moving the substance in the azimuth or radial directions. This property of the standing vortex present an opportunity to form the three-dimensional optical traps, gasdynamic and hydrodynamic vortices, in a localised volume by a direct transfer of the orbital angular momentum from the optical vortex.