title: Generation of an axial magnetic field from photon spin.
abstract: In circularly polarized light the spins of the photons are aligned. When a short intense pulse of circularly polarized laser light is absorbed by a plasma, a torque is delivered initially to the electron species, resulting primarily in an opposing torque from an induced azimuthal electric field. This electric field, in general, has a curl and leads to the generation of an axial magnetic field. It also is the main means for transferring angular momentum to the ions. The time-dependent magnetic field has a magnitude proportional to the transverse gradient of the absorbed intensity but inversely proportional to the electron density, in contrast to earlier theories of the inverse Faraday effect.
authors.affiliation: Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London SW7 2BW, England.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Haines