Multi-twist polarization ribbon topologies in highly-confined optical fields

Bauer T, Banzer P, Bouchard F, Orlov S, Marrucci L, Santamato E, Boyd RW, Karimi E, Leuchs G (2019)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2019

Journal

New Journal of Physics Institute of Physics: Open Access Journals / Institute of Physics (IoP) and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft

Book Volume: 21

DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/ab171b

Abstract

Electromagnetic plane waves, solutions to Maxwell's equations, are said to be 'transverse' in vacuum. Namely, the waves' oscillatory electric and magnetic fields are confined within a plane transverse to the waves' propagation direction. Under tight-focusing conditions however, the field can exhibit longitudinal electric or magnetic components, transverse spin angular momentum, or non-trivial topologies such as Mobius strips. Here, we show that when a suitably spatially structured beam is tightly focused, a three-dimensional polarization topology in the form of a ribbon with two full twists appears in the focal volume. We study experimentally the stability and dynamics of the observed polarization ribbon by exploring its topological structure for various radii upon focusing and for different propagation planes.

Authors with CRIS profile

Thomas Bauer Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik (Optik) Peter Banzer Professur für Experimentalphysik Gerhard Leuchs Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik (Optik)

Involved external institutions

University of Ottawa CA Canada (CA) State research institute Center for Physical Sciences and Technology LT Lithuania (LT) Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II IT Italy (IT) Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts (MPL) / Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Bauer, T., Banzer, P., Bouchard, F., Orlov, S., Marrucci, L., Santamato, E.,... Leuchs, G. (2019). Multi-twist polarization ribbon topologies in highly-confined optical fields. New Journal of Physics, 21. https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ab171b

MLA:

Bauer, Thomas, et al. "Multi-twist polarization ribbon topologies in highly-confined optical fields." New Journal of Physics 21 (2019).

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