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Updated: Jul 31, 2025

Magnetic Tweezers for the Measurement of Twist and Torque
Published on: May 19, 2014
Structured transverse orbital angular momentum probed by a levitated optomechanical sensor
Yanhui Hu1,2, Jack J Kingsley-Smith1,2, Maryam Nikkhou1,2
1Department of Physics, King's College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
The momentum carried by structured light fields exhibits a rich array of surprising features. In this work, we generate transverse orbital angular momentum (TOAM) in the interference field of two parallel and counter-propagating linearly-polarised focused beams, synthesising an array of identical handedness vortices carrying intrinsic TOAM. We explore this structured light field using an optomechanical sensor, consisting of an optically levitated silicon nanorod, whose rotation is a probe of the optical angular momentum, which generates an exceptionally large torque. This simple creation and direct observation of TOAM will have applications in studies of fundamental physics, the optical manipulation of matter and quantum optomechanics.
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