Dudley, Angela L2012-11-262012-11-262012-01Dudley, A.L. 2012. Superpositions of light fields carrying orbital angular momentum. University of KwaZulu-Natalhttp://hdl.handle.net/10204/6374A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the academic requirements for the PhD degree of Science in the School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The work presented in this thesis is centred on the generation of superimposed optical fields which each carry orbital angular momentum (OAM) and the development of OAM measurement techniques. Optical fields which carry OAM have found applications ranging from optical tweezing to quantum cryptography. Due to the fact that they offer a potentially infinite-dimensional state space, much interest has been generated in the measurement of OAM in optical fields, in order for higher-dimensional quantum information processing to be realised. In this study we generate superpositions of higher-order Bessel beams and show that even though we can create a field which carries no overall OAM, we can still witness an angular rotation in the intensity profile of the beam. We also develop two new OAM measurement techniques: (1) a robust odd-even-OAM interferometer and (2) a method to measure the OAM density of an optical field by means of a single spatial light modulator (SLM).enOptical fieldsLight fieldsOrbital angular momentumOAMBessel beamsSpatial Light ModulatorSLMReportDudley, A. L. (2012). <i>Superpositions of light fields carrying orbital angular momentum</i> (Workflow;9626). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10204/6374Dudley, Angela L <i>Superpositions of light fields carrying orbital angular momentum.</i> Workflow;9626. 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/6374Dudley AL. Superpositions of light fields carrying orbital angular momentum. 2012 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10204/6374TY - Report AU - Dudley, Angela L AB - The work presented in this thesis is centred on the generation of superimposed optical fields which each carry orbital angular momentum (OAM) and the development of OAM measurement techniques. Optical fields which carry OAM have found applications ranging from optical tweezing to quantum cryptography. Due to the fact that they offer a potentially infinite-dimensional state space, much interest has been generated in the measurement of OAM in optical fields, in order for higher-dimensional quantum information processing to be realised. In this study we generate superpositions of higher-order Bessel beams and show that even though we can create a field which carries no overall OAM, we can still witness an angular rotation in the intensity profile of the beam. We also develop two new OAM measurement techniques: (1) a robust odd-even-OAM interferometer and (2) a method to measure the OAM density of an optical field by means of a single spatial light modulator (SLM). DA - 2012-01 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Optical fields KW - Light fields KW - Orbital angular momentum KW - OAM KW - Bessel beams KW - Spatial Light Modulator KW - SLM LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2012 T1 - Superpositions of light fields carrying orbital angular momentum TI - Superpositions of light fields carrying orbital angular momentum UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/6374 ER -