title: Manipulating the orbital angular momentum of light at the micron scale with nematic disclinations in a liquid crystal film.
abstract: We report on the experimental manipulation of the orbital angular momentum of light by exploiting a kind of topological defects that spontaneously appear in nematics-disclinations-as microscopic optical spin-orbit interfaces whose operating wavelength can be controlled electrically. Using six different kinds of disclinations, we demonstrate the efficient generation of both scalar and vectorial singular light beams with a broad topological diversity from a fundamental Gaussian beam.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d'Aquitaine, Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, UMR 5798, F-33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Loussert
authors.forename: Ulysse
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Delabre
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brasselet