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Abstract

The microscopic mechanism of the light-matter interactions that induce orbital angular momentum (OAM) in electromagnetic fields is not thoroughly understood. In this work, we employ Archimedean spiral vortex generators in time-resolved numerical simulations using the Octopus code to observe the behind-the-scenes of OAM generation. We send a perfect circularly-polarized plane-wave light onto plasmonic optical vortex generators and observe the resulting twisted light formation with complete spatio-temporal information. In agreement with previous works, we find that emission from the plasmonic spiral branches shapes the vortex-like structure and governs the OAM generation in the outgoing electromagnetic field. To characterize the generated beam further, we emulate the emission from vortex generators with current emitters preserving the spiral geometry. We subject a point-particle system to the generated field and record the orbital angular momentum transfer between the electromagnetic field and the point particle. Finally, we probe the OAM density locally by studying the induced classical trajectory of point particles, which provides further insight into the spatio-temporal features of the induced OAM.