Photon spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion via an electrically tunable $q$-plate
arXiv:1010.4473 · doi:10.1063/1.3527083
Abstract
Exploiting electro-optic effects in liquid crystals, we achieved real-time control of the retardation of liquid- crystal-based $q$-plates through an externally applied voltage. The newly conceived electro-optic $q$-plates can be operated as electrically driven converters of photon spin into orbital angular momentum, enabling a variation of the orbital angular momentum probabilities of the output photons over a time scale of milliseconds.
4 pages, 5 figures, submitted