Diffraction properties of lights with transverse orbital angular momentum

Abstract: Spatiotemporal optical vortex (STOV) is a unique optical vortex with phase singularity in the space-time domain and the photons in a STOV can carry transverse orbital angular momentum (OAM). The STOV shows many fantastic properties which are worth exploring. Here, we theoretically and experimentally study the diffraction property of STOV, which is a fundamental wave phenomenon. The diffraction behaviors of STOVs are obviously affected by the transverse OAM. The diffraction patterns of STOV pulses diffracted by a grating show multi-lobe structure with each gap corresponding to 1 topological charge. The diffraction properties of lights with transverse OAM are demonstrated clearly and help us understanding the physical properties of STOV, which will be of special applications, such as the realization of fast detection of STOVs with different topological charges, which may pay the way for STOV based optical communication.