Orbital Angular Momentum Microlaser with Tunable Degree of Chirality and Large Quantum Numbers

TL;DR

This paper presents a microlaser design capable of generating orbital angular momentum states with tunable chirality and very high quantum numbers, advancing high-dimensional photonic device development.

Contribution

It introduces a novel microlaser microcavity design that allows continuous tuning of OAM chirality and supports large quantum numbers up to 352.

Findings

Chirality of OAM can be tuned from -1 to +1 by pump position control.

Generated OAM quantum numbers as high as 352.

Demonstrated multi-vortex laser generation in space and time.

Abstract

Chiral microlasers with orbital angular momenta are promising platforms for developing integrated high-dimensional photonic devices. However, it's still challenging to arbitrarily manipulate the degree of chirality and quantum numbers of OAM. Herein, we proposed and demonstrated OAM generations with tunable degree of chirality and large quantum numbers from microlasers. Through the design of an optical microcavity with uneven potential distribution for photons, the dissymmetry factor of OAM laser can be continuously tuned from -1 to +1 by governing the pump position. High-order vortices were also generated, in which the largest quantum number reached up to 352. We further demonstrated multi-vortex laser generation in spatial and temporal domains. This study provides a novel mechanism for manipulating the chirality of OAM based on microlasers, with a great potential in high-dimensional information processing.