Ultrafast spinning twisted ribbons of confined electric fields
Bauer T, Khonina SN, Golub I, Leuchs G, Banzer P (2020)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2020
Journal
Book Volume: 7
Pages Range: 1228-1231
Journal Issue: 10
Abstract
Topological properties of light attract tremendous attention in the optics communities and beyond. For instance, light beams gain robustness against certain deformations when carrying topological features, enabling intriguing applications. We report on the observation of a topological structure contained in an optical beam, i.e., a twisted ribbon formed by the electric field vector per se, in stark contrast to recently reported studies dealing with topological structures based on the distribution of the time averaged polarization ellipse. Moreover, our ribbons are spinning in time at a frequency given by the optical frequency divided by the total angular momentum of the incoming beam. The number of full twists of the ribbon is equal to the orbital angular momentum of the longitudinal component of the employed light beam upon tight focusing, which is a direct consequence of spin-to-orbit coupling. We study this angular-momentum-transfer-assisted generation of the twisted ribbon structures theoretically and experimentally for tightly focused circularly polarized beams of different vorticity, paving the way to tailored topologically robust excitations of novel coherent light-matter states.
Authors with CRIS profile
Involved external institutions
Russian Academy of Sciences / Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (RAS)
Russian Federation (RU)
Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts (MPL) / Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
Germany (DE)
Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology
Canada (CA)
Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft
Netherlands (NL)
Russian Federation (RU)
Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts (MPL) / Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
Germany (DE)
Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology
Canada (CA)
Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft
Netherlands (NL)
How to cite
APA:
Bauer, T., Khonina, S.N., Golub, I., Leuchs, G., & Banzer, P. (2020). Ultrafast spinning twisted ribbons of confined electric fields. Optica, 7(10), 1228-1231. https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.392772
MLA:
Bauer, Thomas, et al. "Ultrafast spinning twisted ribbons of confined electric fields." Optica 7.10 (2020): 1228-1231.
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