Orbital angular momentum of an elliptic beam after an elliptic spiral phase plate.

Abstract

We obtain a simple closed expression for the normalized orbital angular momentum (OAM) (OAM per unit power) of an arbitrary paraxial light beam with an elliptic shape, diffracted by an elliptic spiral phase plate (SPP), rotated by an arbitrary angle around the optical axis. Moreover, ellipticities of the beam and of the SPP can be different. It is shown that when an elliptic beam illuminates an elliptic SPP, the normalized OAM of the output beam is maximal (minimal) when both the beam and the SPP are oriented in the same (orthogonal) directions. The results can be used in optical trapping, e.g., for continuous change of the OAM transferred to a particle by rotating the SPP around the optical axis.