Nonlinear up-conversion of a polarization Möbius strip with half-integer optical angular momentum

Martin Luttmann*, Mekha Vimal, Matthieu Guer, Jean-François Hergott, Antonio Zelaquett Khoury, Carlos Hernández-García, Emilio Pisanty, Thierry Ruchon

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)
62 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Symmetries and conservation laws of energy, linear momentum, and angular momentum play a central role in nonlinear optics. Recently, paraxial light fields with nontrivial topology have been attracting a keen interest. Despite not being eigenstates of the orbital and spin angular momenta (OAM and SAM), they are eigenstates of the generalized angular momentum (GAM) operator—a mixture of the OAM and SAM operators with fractional eigenvalues. By driving high harmonic generation with a polarization Möbius strip carrying a half-integer GAM charge and implementing angular momentum characterization methods in the extreme ultraviolet range, we demonstrate the linear scaling of the GAM with the harmonic order, each harmonic carrying a precise half-integer GAM charge. Our work shows that beyond SAM and OAM, the GAM is, in some situations, an appropriate quantum number. It paves the way for finer manipulations and applications of light beams containing fractional-order polarization singularities.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbereadf3486
JournalScience Advances
Volume9
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 Mar 2023

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