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arXiv · 2308.05397

Photoelectronic mapping of spin-orbit interaction of intense light fields

Abstract

The interaction between a quantum particle's spin angular momentum and its orbital angular momentum is ubiquitous in nature. In optics, the spin-orbit optical phenomenon is closely related with the light-matter interaction and has been of great interest. With the development of laser technology, the high-power and ultrafast light sources now serve as a crucial tool in revealing the behaviour of matters under extreme conditions. The comprehensive knowledge of the spin-orbit interaction for the intense light is of utmost importance. Here, we achieve the in-situ modulation and visualization of the optical orbital-to-spin conversion in strong-field regime. We show that, through manipulating the morphology of femtosecond cylindrical vector vortex pulses by a slit, the photons' orbital angular momentum can be controllably transformed into spin after focusing. By employing strong-field ionization experiment, the orbital-to-spin conversion can be imaged and measured through the photoelectron momentum distributions. Such detection and consequent control of spin-orbit dynamics of intense laser fields have implications on controlling the photoelectron holography and coherent extreme ultraviolet radiation.

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Yiqi Fang, Meng Han, Peipei Ge, Zhenning Guo, Xiaoyang Yu, Yongkai Deng, Chengyin Wu, Qihuang Gong, Yunquan Liu. 2023-08-10. Photoelectronic mapping of spin-orbit interaction of intense light fields. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-020-00709-3

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