Transverse optical current in off-axis vortex beams

Optical beams nesting single or more off-axial distribution of point vortices is considered. The effective topological charge carried out by the beam is explored when the beam is nesting a fractional order vortex phase, beam containing an arbitrary distribution of point vortices as well as when two or more integer order vortex fields are superposed. The orbital angular momentum (OAM) carried out by this beam is generally a fractional number when average OAM per photon is considered. Depending on the distribution of the point vortices the beam may carry a net transverse linear momentum which dictates the nature of the OAM carried out by the beams. When more than one off-axis vortex is present within the beam, the transverse Poynting vector also exhibits saddle points which reveal intricate topological structure of such optical vortex beams. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.