Measuring the fractional orbital angular momentum of a vortex light beam by cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometers
Journal
Optics Communications
Journal Volume
285
Journal Issue
4
Pages
383-388
Date Issued
2012
Author(s)
Abstract
We design an interferometric method for measuring the fractional orbital angular momentum of a vortex light beam by cascading Mach-Zehnder interferometers. The validity of this method is verified by simulation and theoretical analysis. We demonstrate the method experimentally for two stages of cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometers, which can measure the fractional topological charge up to two. The experimental results agree with the theoretical results well. Since fractional orbital angular momentum may have a potential application in the field of quantum information, one can utilize the method to detect them easily and precisely. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Type
journal article