Orbital chirality of light in few-mode step-index optical fibers
A physical system is considered chiral when it can be distinguished from its mirror image, regardless of the applied translation and rotation. An electromagnetic wave can be chiral through its two essential forms of angular momenta: spin and orbital. Although the interaction between the spin angular...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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AIP Publishing LLC
2025-04-01
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| Series: | APL Photonics |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0254587 |
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| author | Karolina Stefańska Edouard Hertz Karol Tarnowski Bertrand Kibler Pierre Béjot |
| author_facet | Karolina Stefańska Edouard Hertz Karol Tarnowski Bertrand Kibler Pierre Béjot |
| author_sort | Karolina Stefańska |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A physical system is considered chiral when it can be distinguished from its mirror image, regardless of the applied translation and rotation. An electromagnetic wave can be chiral through its two essential forms of angular momenta: spin and orbital. Although the interaction between the spin angular momentum of light and chiral matter is now well known, the way the light possessing an orbital angular momentum interacts with matter is a topic of growing interest. In particular, specific signatures of light–matter interaction that depend on the sign of the angular momentum remain elusive. We demonstrate here that orbital chirality takes place as soon as light propagates within an inhomogeneous isotropic medium exhibiting cylindrical symmetry through quadrupolar effects. The theoretical predictions are supported by experimental evidence in multimode optical fibers. In particular, we show that the spin–orbit coupling taking place in these media leads to intriguing effects such as orbital angular momentum-based circular birefringence, orbital birefringence, or a q-plate-like effect. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7dc9ac65fa2846df9ab5ca00298b3f01 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2378-0967 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | AIP Publishing LLC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | APL Photonics |
| spelling | doaj-art-7dc9ac65fa2846df9ab5ca00298b3f012025-08-20T02:11:08ZengAIP Publishing LLCAPL Photonics2378-09672025-04-01104040804040804-910.1063/5.0254587Orbital chirality of light in few-mode step-index optical fibersKarolina Stefańska0Edouard Hertz1Karol Tarnowski2Bertrand Kibler3Pierre Béjot4Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne (ICB), UMR6303 CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, 21000 Dijon, FranceLaboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne (ICB), UMR6303 CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, 21000 Dijon, FranceDepartment of Optics and Photonics, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, PolandLaboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne (ICB), UMR6303 CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, 21000 Dijon, FranceLaboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne (ICB), UMR6303 CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, 21000 Dijon, FranceA physical system is considered chiral when it can be distinguished from its mirror image, regardless of the applied translation and rotation. An electromagnetic wave can be chiral through its two essential forms of angular momenta: spin and orbital. Although the interaction between the spin angular momentum of light and chiral matter is now well known, the way the light possessing an orbital angular momentum interacts with matter is a topic of growing interest. In particular, specific signatures of light–matter interaction that depend on the sign of the angular momentum remain elusive. We demonstrate here that orbital chirality takes place as soon as light propagates within an inhomogeneous isotropic medium exhibiting cylindrical symmetry through quadrupolar effects. The theoretical predictions are supported by experimental evidence in multimode optical fibers. In particular, we show that the spin–orbit coupling taking place in these media leads to intriguing effects such as orbital angular momentum-based circular birefringence, orbital birefringence, or a q-plate-like effect.http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0254587 |
| spellingShingle | Karolina Stefańska Edouard Hertz Karol Tarnowski Bertrand Kibler Pierre Béjot Orbital chirality of light in few-mode step-index optical fibers APL Photonics |
| title | Orbital chirality of light in few-mode step-index optical fibers |
| title_full | Orbital chirality of light in few-mode step-index optical fibers |
| title_fullStr | Orbital chirality of light in few-mode step-index optical fibers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Orbital chirality of light in few-mode step-index optical fibers |
| title_short | Orbital chirality of light in few-mode step-index optical fibers |
| title_sort | orbital chirality of light in few mode step index optical fibers |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0254587 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT karolinastefanska orbitalchiralityoflightinfewmodestepindexopticalfibers AT edouardhertz orbitalchiralityoflightinfewmodestepindexopticalfibers AT karoltarnowski orbitalchiralityoflightinfewmodestepindexopticalfibers AT bertrandkibler orbitalchiralityoflightinfewmodestepindexopticalfibers AT pierrebejot orbitalchiralityoflightinfewmodestepindexopticalfibers |