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

Bauer, T.A.; Banzer, Peter; Bouchard, Frédéric; Orlov, Sergej; Marrucci, Lorenzo; Santamato, Enrico; Boyd, Robert W.; Karimi, Ebrahim; Leuchs, Gerd

doi:10.1088/1367-2630/ab171b

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

Title

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

Author

Bauer, T.A. (TU Delft QN/Kuipers Lab; Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light; Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg; Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft)
Banzer, Peter (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light; Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg; University of Ottawa)
Bouchard, Frédéric (University of Ottawa)
Orlov, Sergej (State Research Institute Center for Physical Sciences and Technology)
Marrucci, Lorenzo (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
Santamato, Enrico (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
Boyd, Robert W. (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light; University of Ottawa; University of Rochester Institute of Optics)
Karimi, Ebrahim (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light; University of Ottawa)
Leuchs, Gerd (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light; Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg; University of Ottawa)

Date

2019

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 Möbius 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.

Subject

polarization topology
Ribbon topology
tight-focusing beams

To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:357e3e2b-b58d-43d4-bb92-7636846aeaf9

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ab171b

ISSN

1367-2630

Source

New Journal of Physics, 21 (5)

Part of collection

Institutional Repository