Directly observing the skew angle of a Poynting vector in an OAM carrying beam via angular diffraction

A new, to the best of our knowledge, method for directly measuring the skew angle of a Poynting vector of optical vortices is reported in this Letter. We design an incomplete optical vortex phase to mimic the occlusion of actual objects on the light path. By capturing the intensity cross section of the incomplete vortex field, the energy flow can be observed directly; thus, the skew angle of the Poynting vector can be directly measured. In this Letter, we measure the skew angle of the Poynting vector with an error less than 3%. Further, the work in this Letter may provide a new way to sense the translational distance and measure the topological charge of the optical vortex.