Circular dichroism of cholesteric polymers and the orbital angular momentum of light

Abstract

We explore experimentally if light's orbital angular momentum (OAM) interacts with chiral nematic polymer films. Specifically, we measure the circular dichroism of such a material using light beams with different OAM. We investigate the case of strongly focused, nonparaxial light beams, where the spatial and polarization degrees of freedom are coupled. Within the experimental accuracy, we cannot find any influence of the OAM on the circular dichroism of cholesteric polymers.