Polarization and Vortex Control of Extreme-Ultraviolet Attosecond Pulses through Simultaneous Control of Spin and Orbital Angular Momentum

The angular momentum of light is present in two different forms: spin angular momentum (SAM), related to the field's polarization, and orbital angular momentum (OAM), associated with the spatial profile of the phase of the electromagnetic wave. While these properties have been long studied and exploited in the visible/infrared regions, recent developments have extended SAM [1,2] and OAM [3,4] control into the EUV/soft x-ray regions. However, to date it has not been possible to generate coherent EUV beams with fully controlled SAM and OAM.