Refractive elements for the measurement of the orbital angular momentum of a single photon

Lavery, M.P.J., Robertson, D.J., Berkhout, G.C.G., Love, G.D., Padgett, M.J. and Courtial, J. (2012) Refractive elements for the measurement of the orbital angular momentum of a single photon. Optics Express, 20(3), pp. 2110-2115. (doi: 10.1364/OE.20.002110)

Abstract

We have developed a mode transformer comprising two custom refractive optical elements which convert orbital angular momentum states into transverse momentum states. This transformation allows for an efficient measurement of the orbital angular momentum content of an input light beam. We characterise the channel capacity of the system for 50 input modes, giving a maximum value of 3.46 bits per photon. Using an electron multiplying CCD (EMCCD) camera with a laser source attenuated such that on average there is less than one photon present within the system per measurement period, we demonstrate that the elements are efficient for the use in single photon experiments.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Lavery, Professor Martin and Padgett, Professor Miles and Courtial, Dr Johannes
• Authors: Lavery, M.P.J., Robertson, D.J., Berkhout, G.C.G., Love, G.D., Padgett, M.J., and Courtial, J.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Journal Name: Optics Express
• Publisher: Optical Society of America
• ISSN: 1094-4087
• ISSN (Online): 1094-4087
• Published Online: 17 January 2012
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2012 The Optical Society of America
• First Published: First published in Optics Express 20(3):2110-2115
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher