Gaussian beams with very high orbital angular momentum

An elliptical Gaussian beam focussed by a cylindrical lens can possess large amounts of orbital angular momentum, We give an expression for the angular momentum, which arises from the azimuthal component of the Poynting vector, and show that it can be as high as 10 000 (h) over bar per photon. We examine the phase distribution of the beams in an interference experiment. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.