Optical orbital angular momentum analogy to the Stern-Gerlach experiment

Publication Date: 10/1/2024

Event: Optics Letters

Reference: 49(19):5447-5450, 2024

Authors: Angela Dudley, University of the Witwatersrand; Bereneice Sephton, University degli Studi di Napoli Federico II; Thien-An Nguyen, City College of New York; Nathan S. Brady, City College of New York, University of Nebraska at Kearney; Sergei Slussarenko, Università di Napoli Federico II, Griffith University; Robert R. Alfano, City College of New York; Andrew Forbes, University of the Witwatersrand; Miles J. Padgett, University of Glasgow; Giovanni Milione, NEC Laboratories America, Inc.; Martin P.J. Lavery, University of Glasgow

Abstract: Symmetry breaking has been shown to reveal interesting phenomena in physical systems. A notable example is the fundamental work of Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach [Stern and Zerlach, Z. Physik 9, 349 (1922)] nearly 100 years ago demonstrating a spin angular momentum (SAM) deflection that differed from classical theory. Here we use non-separable states of SAM and orbital angular momentum (OAM), known as vector vortex modes, to demonstrate how a classical optics analogy can be used to reveal this nonseparability, reminiscent of the work carried out by Sternand Gerlach. We show that by implementing a polarization insensitive device to measure the OAM, the SAM states can be deflected to spatially resolved positions.

Publication Link: https://opg.optica.org/ol/fulltext.cfm?uri=ol-49-19-5447&id=559992