Spin to orbital angular momentum transfer in nonlinear wave mixing

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the transfer of spin angular momentum to orbital angular momentum in nonlinear wave mixing of structured light beams, revealing a new way to control light's angular momentum properties.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental demonstration of spin to orbital angular momentum transfer in nonlinear optical processes involving structured light.

Findings

Second harmonic beam inherits Hermite-Gaussian components from vector vortex

Relative phase depends on polarization state of Gaussian beam

Experimental results align with theoretical predictions

Abstract

We demonstrate the spin to orbital angular momentum transfer in the nonlinear mixing of structured light beams. A vector vortex is coupled to a circularly polarized Gaussian beam in noncollinear second harmonic generation under type-II phase match. The second harmonic beam inherits the Hermite-Gaussian components of the vector vortex, however, the relative phase between them is determined by the polarization state of the Gaussian beam. This effect creates an interesting crosstalk between spin and orbital degrees of freedom, allowing the angular momentum transfer between them. Our experimental results match the theoretical predictions for the nonlinear optical response.