Abstract
As an attractive degree of freedom in electromagnetic (EM) waves, the orbital angular momentum (OAM) enables infinite communication channels for both classical and quantum communications. The exploration of OAM generation inspires various designs involving spiral phase plates, antenna arrays, metasurfaces, and computer-generated holograms. In this work, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate an approach to producing OAM carrying EM waves by a point defect in three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals (PCs). Simultaneous excitation of two vibrational-defect states with an elaborately engineered phase retardation generates a rotational state carrying OAM. Through converting guided waves in a line defect to localized waves in a point defect and then to radiated vortex waves in free space, the lowest four OAM-mode emitters, i.e., OAM indices of ±1 and ±2, are successfully realized. This work offers a physical mechanism to generate OAM by PCs, especially when the OAM generation is to be integrated with other designs.
Recommended Citation
M. L. Chen et al., "Generation Of Orbital Angular Momentum By A Point Defect In Photonic Crystals," Physical Review Applied, vol. 10, no. 1, article no. 014034, American Physical Society, Jul 2018.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.10.014034
Department(s)
Electrical and Computer Engineering
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
2331-7019
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2024 American Physical Society, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
31 Jul 2018
Comments
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant 61271158