title: Generation and control of optical vortices using left-handed materials.
abstract: Optical vortices are shown to be generated in the near-field through interference between a propagating wave and the amplified evanescent field in a slab of lossy left-handed material. While small loss adversely impacts the sub-wavelength performance in the lens application, the vortex character shown relies on some degree of imperfection. These vortices can be controlled by means of gain/loss and the incident field.
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, 465 Northwestern Avenue, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. webb@purdue.edu
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: Ming-Chuan
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Yang