Spin to orbital angular momentum transfer in frequency up-conversion

Abstract

We demonstrate the spin to orbital angular momentum transfer in frequency upconversion with structured light beams. A vector vortex is coupled to a circularly polarized Gaussian beam in noncollinear second harmonic generation under type-II phase match. The second harmonic beam inherits the Hermite–Gaussian components of the vector vortex; however, the relative phase between them is determined by the polarization state of the Gaussian beam. This effect creates an interesting crosstalk between spin and orbital degrees of freedom, allowing the angular momentum transfer between them. Our experimental results match the theoretical predictions for the nonlinear optical response.

Keywords

• nonlinear optics
• oam
• second harmonic generation
• structured light