Book description
This book deals with applications in several areas of science and
technology that make use of light which carries orbital angular
momentum. In most practical scenarios, the angular momentum can be
decomposed into two independent contributions: the spin angular momentum
and the orbital angular momentum. The orbital contribution affords a
fundamentally new degree of freedom, with fascinating and wide-spread
applications. Unlike spin angular momentum, which is associated with the
polarization of light, the orbital angular momentum arises as a
consequence of the spatial distribution of the intensity and phase of an
optical field, even down to the single photon limit. Researchers have
begun to appreciate its implications for our understanding of the ways
in which light and matter can interact, and its practical potential in
different areas of science and technology. Juan P. Torres is one of
the group leaders of ICFO-The Institute of Photonic Sciences in
Barcelona, Spain, where he conducts research in nonlinear and quantum
optics. He also holds a position as associate professor at the Technical
University of Catalonia where he teaches in photonics and electrical
engineering. Professor Torres obtained his PhD in Science from the
Technical University of Catalonia and afterwards held a post-doctoral
position at the University of California at Berkeley. He has authored
about 100 articles and received an award for young investigators from
the Government of Catalonia in 2002.
Lluis Torner is the founding Director of ICFO-The Institute of Photonic
Sciences in Barcelona, Spain, and professor of photonics at the
Technical University of Catalonia. He conducts research and innovation
in photonics, with emphasis on fundamentals and applications of
nonlinear optics, optical vortices and optical solitons. He has
co-authored more than 300 articles in scienti? c journals. He is a
Fellow of the Optical Society of America, the European Optical Society
and the European Physical Society, and he currently serves as President
of the Association of Research Institutions of Catalonia.
