Abstract
A device that can modulate the average orbital angular momentum (OAM) per photon of a laser beam continuously from −mħ to +mħ is presented. The OAM state is addressed by the controlled polarization state using a spiral phase plate, an electro-optic modulator and a modified Mach–Zehnder interferometer, which allows one to adjust the average OAM value by overlapping two beams carrying opposite angular momenta with varying intensity ratio. The maximum achievable modulation frequency is much higher than what spatial light modulators or digital micro-mirror devices can achieve. The demonstration is performed with nanosecond Q-switched pulses in a master oscillator power amplifier with a double-pass configuration that produces a gain of more than 500. Other variants as well as applications of this device are discussed.
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