Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 13, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Spatio-temporal light springs: extended encoding of orbital angular momentum in ultrashort pulses
Abstract:
We introduce a new class of spatio-temporally coupled ultrashort laser beams, which are obtained by superimposing Laguerre-Gauss beams whose azimuthal mode index is correlated to their frequency. These beams are characterized by helical structures for their phase and intensity profiles, which both encode the orbital angular momentum carried by the light. They can easily be engineered in the optical range, and are naturally produced at shorter wavelengths when attosecond pulses are generated by intense femtosecond Laguerre-Gauss laser beams. These spatio-temporal "light springs" will allow for the transfer of the orbital angular momentum to matter by stimulated Raman scattering.
Related Concept Videos
NMR Spectrometers: Radiofrequency Pulses and Pulse Sequences
Angular Momentum: Single Particle
The Wave Nature of Light
Conservation of Angular Momentum: Application
Atomic Nuclei: Larmor Precession Frequency
Impulse-Momentum Theorem
By writing Newton's second law of motion in terms of the momentum of an object and the external force acting on it, and simultaneously using the definition of the impulse vector, it can be shown that the total impulse on an object is equal to its...

