Optomechanical detection of light with orbital angular momentum

H Kaviani, R Ghobadi, B Behera, M Wu, A Hryciw… - Optics …, 2020 - opg.optica.org
H Kaviani, R Ghobadi, B Behera, M Wu, A Hryciw, S Vo, D Fattal, P Barclay
Optics Express, 2020opg.optica.org
We present the design of an optomechanical device that allows sensitive transduction of the
orbital angular momentum of light. An optically induced twist imparted on the device is
detected using a photonic crystal cavity optomechanical system. This device allows the
measurement of the orbital angular momentum of light when photons are absorbed by the
mechanical element or the detection of the presence of photons when they are scattered into
new orbital angular momentum states by a sub-wavelength grating patterned on the device …
We present the design of an optomechanical device that allows sensitive transduction of the orbital angular momentum of light. An optically induced twist imparted on the device is detected using a photonic crystal cavity optomechanical system. This device allows the measurement of the orbital angular momentum of light when photons are absorbed by the mechanical element or the detection of the presence of photons when they are scattered into new orbital angular momentum states by a sub-wavelength grating patterned on the device. Such a system allows the detection of optical pulses with an l = 1 orbital angular momentum field that have an average photon number of 3.9 × 10^3 at a 5 MHz repetition rate, assuming that detector noise is not limiting measurement sensitivity. This scheme can be extended to higher order orbital angular momentum states.
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