Abstract
An optical mode is generated in vacuum by the total internal reflection of a beam, at theplanar surface of a dielectric on which a metallic film is deposited. When the beamimpinging on the surface is a Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) mode, the resulting surface modewith field components in the vacuum region possesses vortex properties, in addition tosurface plasmon features. Such surface plasmon optical vortex (SPOV) modes havewell-defined orbital angular momentum, residing in an azimuthal phase relative to thepropagation direction of the internally reflected light. Significantly, as SPOVs arecharacterized by a small mode volume, they can strongly couple to atomic or molecularsystems in the vicinity of the surface. In particular, SPOVs generated by single orcounter-propagating, symmetrically incident laser fields give rise to optical forces that canrestrict the lateral in-plane motion of such atoms, thus acting as a trap. Typical atomtrajectories, evaluated for sodium atoms initially localized in the vicinity of the metallizedsurface, exhibit a variety of rotational, vibrational and translational effects, as well astrapping.
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