Light-Matter Interactions with a Twist
Abstract
The overall goal of the proposed research program is to study light-matter interactions in the presence of angular momentum selection rules. The fundamental nature of these studies would impact applications as diverse as quantum networks, sensing, high-speed signal processing, imaging and manufacturing. The influence of the orbital angular momentum (OAM) on light’s coupling with matter is just beginning to be understood. For instance, opto-mechanical coupling of light through Brillouin interactions is known, but acoustic phonons carrying OAM, and hence the influence of this degree of freedom, has not been studied. Similarly, quadrupole transitions of electronic states in an atom have been achieved using excitation with light carrying OAM, but the complexity of such experiments implies that this field remains nascent. Finally, theoretical calculations posit significant advantages for implementing laser Wakefield acceleration of electrons to realize the dream of table-top energetic, coherent X-Ray sources, but implementation of these schemes remain unsuccessful.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2019
- Source ID
- N000141912632
Entities
People
- Siddharth Ramachandran
Organizations
- Boston University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy