Orbital angular momentum control by a multihelicoidal fibre with a twist defect

We have theoretically demonstrated that by creating a controllable twist defect in an l-helicoidal fibre one can control the orbital angular momentum of the generated beam at a constant power. We have studied the passage of the Gaussian beam through such a defect fibre and shown that by varying the twist defect angle one can change the total orbital angular momentum of the generated optical field from 0 to l (in dimensionless units). We have also studied the distribution of the angular momentum density in the cross-section of the generated optical field. (paper)