https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2007-00146-3
Experiments with twisted light
Some of the mechanical and quantum-mechanical properties of optical vortices
Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK
Corresponding author: j.courtial@physics.gla.ac.uk
The generic – that is, stable under perturbations – nodes of the field in a monochromatic light beam are optical vortices. We describe here their connection to Chladni's nodal lines in the oscillations of metal plates, as well as a few experiments that have been performed with optical vortices. We will describe how optical vortices can be generated experimentally; how it can be shown that they possess orbital angular momentum; how individual photons can be sorted according to their vortex state; and how optical vortices can be used to demonstrate higher-dimensional quantum entanglement.
© EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag, 2007
