2024/06/19 by Zhen-Lai Wang, Wang, Zhen-Lai
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Fiber Optic Sensors #FOS: Physical sciences #Optical Polarization and Ellipsometry #Optics (physics.optics) #Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2406.13685
openalex publication_date 2024/06/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Within monochromatic optical fields, we demonstrate the rotating-wave structured light with wave vortex carrying an intrinsic transverse orbital angular momentum orthogonal to the propagation direction of light. Remarkably, we find that such a rotating-wave structured light reveals highly nontrivial features of transverse spin and orbital angular momentum densities. The normalized total angular momentum density is conserved universally, suggesting a mutual conversion of the intrinsic transverse spin and orbital angular momentum in free space. Despite such mutual conversion at local level, the integral intrinsic orbital angular momentum can be well defined with the topological charge of the vortex per photon. Moreover, the orientation of transverse spin density is governed by the direction of the Poynting momentum density, manifesting a spin-momentum-locking effect in free space.