Paraxial and nonparaxial regimes of angular momentum absorption from twisted light

Abstract: We present a unified theoretical framework for the transfer of angular momentum from a Bessel wave of twisted light to a fully absorbing disk of finite radius. Exact expressions for the orbital angular momentum density and the total angular momentum transmitted to the disk are obtained for both paraxial and nonparaxial regimes. By varying the beam wavelength, polarization, and cone angle, several experimentally relevant regimes of angular momentum transfer are identified. In the extreme nonparaxial regime, the absorbed angular momentum displays a staircase-like de- pendence on the object size, which can be interpreted as a geometric Hall-type response of the twisted field. The results suggest potential applications for controlled angular momentum transfer and size-sensitive probing of absorbing objects.