Topological‐Charge‐Dependent Dichroism and Birefringence of Optical Vortices

Material anisotropy and chirality produce polarization‐dependent light‐matter interactions. Absorption leads to linear and circular dichroism, whereas elastic forward scattering produces linear and circular birefringence. Here a form of dichroism and birefringence is highlighted whereby generic anisotropic media display locally different absorption and scattering of a focused vortex beam that depends upon the sign of the topological charge . The light‐matter interactions described in this work manifest purely through dominant electric‐dipole coupling mechanisms and depend on the paraxial parameter to first‐order. Previous topological‐charge‐dependent light‐matter interactions require the significantly weaker higher‐order multipole moments and are proportional to the paraxial parameter to second‐order. The result represents a method of probing the nano‐optics of advanced materials and the topological properties of structured light.