Optical skyrmion laser using a wedged output coupler

Abstract

Optical skyrmions are a recently demonstrated topological state of light that promise a rich set of physics and applications, in particular, material manipulation. In this work, we demonstrate a method to generate these states from a laser, which has an intermediate bimeron state, providing a route to compact, high power, and low cost skyrmion research and applications. We use a praseodymium gain medium to make red (640 nm) and orange (607 nm) Bloch-, Néel-, and anti-skyrmions, with a route to the other visible emission bands of the gain medium. This approach uses a wedged optic as the key component, which could be easily adapted to other laser gain media and laser cavity configurations, and other exotic topological states.

Vortex lattice state transitions in water surface waves

“…Since it has been shown here that vortices can be generated even when the waveguide is submerged, additional wavemakers may be introduced on the surface or in other depths to alter the particle trajectories. On a more fundamental note, water waves have been recently shown theoretically [5] and experimentally [20] to generate topological entities such as skyrmions, similar to the optical skyrmions presented in [21,22]. The study of the skyrmion lattice phase and single magnetic skyrmions offers a platform toward effective magnetic information storage and transfer [21].…”