Optical vortex generation from molecular chromophore arrays

Abstract

The generation of light endowed with orbital angular momentum, frequently termed optical vortex light, is commonly achieved by passing a conventional beam through suitably constructed optical elements. This Letter shows that the necessary phase structure for vortex propagation can be directly produced through the creation of twisted light from the vacuum. The mechanism is based on optical emission from a family of chromophore nano-arrays that satisfy specific geometric and symmetry constraints. Each such array can support pairs of electronically delocalized doubly degenerate excitons whose azimuthal phase progression is responsible for the helical wave-front of the emitted radiation. The exciton symmetry dictates the maximum magnitude of topological charge; detailed analysis secures the conditions necessary to deliver optical vortices of arbitrary topological charge.

Main Article: 4 Pages. Supplementary Material: 3 Pages

References in corpus (3)

• Optical spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion in inhomogeneous anisotropic media
• Generation and dynamics of optical beams with polarization singularities
• Near-Perfect Sorting of Orbital Angular Momentum and Angular Position States of Light

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Dynamical control of topology in ferroelectric skyrmions via twisted light
• Reading the orbital angular momentum of light using plasmonic nanoantennas
• Mixing of spin and orbital angular momenta via second-harmonic generation in plasmonic and dielectric chiral nanostructures
• Twisted Molecular Excitons as Mediators for Changing the Angular Momentum of Light
• Angular momentum transport with twisted exciton wave packets
• Vortex Laser at Exceptional Point