Optical skyrmion lattice in evanescent electromagnetic fields

Tsesses, Shai; Ostrovsky, Evgeny; Cohen, Kobi; Gjonaj, Bergin; Lindner, Netanel H.; Bartal, Guy

doi:10.1126/science.aau0227

Cited by 278 publications

(215 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Since photons are massless spin-1 particles, skyrmionrelated objects can also emerge as spin textures of photons [10,11]. Real space skyrmions have been observed recently in surface plasmon polariton systems [11]. But there has not been any report of anti-skyrmions, merons and antimerons in optics.…”

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confidence: 99%

Meron Spin Textures in Momentum Space

et al. 2020

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We reveal the meron and antimeron spin textures in momentum space in a photonic crystal slab. These spin textures in momentum space have not been previously noted either in electronic or photonic systems. Breaking the inversion symmetry of a honeycomb photonic crystal gaps out the Dirac cones at the corners of Brillouin zone. The spin textures of photonic bands near the gaps exhibit a meron or antimeron. Unlike the electronic systems, the spin texture of the photonic modes manifests directly in the polarization of the leakage radiation, as the Dirac points can be above the light line. The spin texture provides a direct approach to visualize the local Berry curvature. Our work highlights the significant opportunities of using photonic structures for the exploration of topological spin textures, with potential applications towards topologically robust ways to manipulate polarizations and other modal characteristics of light.

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confidence: 99%

Meron Spin Textures in Momentum Space

et al. 2020

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“…This method of inducing optically powered skyrmion motions and robust control of their collective behavior is the focus of our present study. Since skyrmions can be created in light [20][21][22][23] and in material systems like liquid crystals and magnets , which, as we show, can be highly sensitive to light, our study may potentially lead to a possibility of exploring the interplay between the skyrmionic structures in light and in the condensed matter systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Being spatially-localized nonsingular field configurations [24][25][26], unlike the solitary waves mentioned above, topological solitons are not always associated with out-of-equilibrium dynamics, and instead are commonly also studied as static field configurations embedded in a uniform background or as topologically protected magnetic structures driven by electric currents in prototypes of magnetic racetrack memory devices [17,18]. In addition to many condensed matter and nuclear physics systems, a classical optical analog of a skyrmion-like structure has been recently reported in evanescent electromagnetic fields and demonstrated using surface plasmon polaritons [20]. Also very recently, photonic skyrmions in momentum space associated with equations of motions of a topological electromagnetic field have been studied theoretically [22], where the physics of this topological field configuration manifests itself in nontrivial windings of spin -1 vector as opposed to spin -1/2 vector [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Light-controlled skyrmions and torons as reconfigurable particles

et al. 2019

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Topological solitons, such as skyrmions, arise in field theories of systems ranging from Bose-Einstein condensates to optics, particle physics, and cosmology, but they are rarely accessible experimentally. Chiral nematic liquid crystals provide a platform to study skyrmions because of their natural tendency to form twisted structures arising from the lack of mirror symmetry at the molecular level. However, large-scale dynamic control and technological utility of skyrmions remain limited. Combining experiments and numerical modeling of chiral liquid crystals with optically controlled helical pitch, we demonstrate that low-intensity, unstructured light can control stability, dimensions, interactions, spatial patterning, self-assembly, and dynamics of these topological solitons.

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“…Figure h illustrates the coherently added fields illuminating at ±10° within the yz plane, showing a space‐variant dipoles array. It is interesting to mention that the interference fields in a similar configuration could lead to an optical skyrmion …”

Section: Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodologies for On‐Demand Dispersion Engineering of Waves in Metasurfaces

Guo

et al. 2019

Advanced Optical Materials

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IntroductionMetasurfaces and surface waves are two booming research branches in modern optics and wave physics. As 2D counterparts of 3D metamaterials, metasurfaces have inherited many unusual properties of artificially structured metamaterials, e.g., negative refraction, super-resolution imaging, and invisibility. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Nevertheless, owing to the reduced dimension, metasurfaces are much easier to fabricate, thus providing possibilities to transform theoretical innovations to practical applications. [7,8] In principle, the mechanisms of light-matter interaction in metasurfaces are related to the exotic physical properties of surface waves on metasurfaces. There are many kinds of surface waves propagating along interfaces of two kinds of media, such as surface plasmons, Dyakonov, Bloch, and Tamm surface waves. [9,10] Surface plasmons require that one of the media has negative permittivity; Dyakonov surface waves require linear anisotropy of at least one of the media. Bloch and Tamm surface waves require periodic permittivity of one of the media truncated by the interface or along the interface. In this paper, we would like to highlight the Dispersion is one common yet critical property of all kinds of waves. It is related to the spatial and spectral evolution of waves in structured materials. This review gives a summary of the methodologies used for the on-demand dispersion engineering of waves in metasurfaces, which possess many unusual properties such as extremely short wavelength, diffraction-less directional propagation, and tunable phase shift, resulting in many exciting applications with performances beyond the limitations set by traditional geometric and physical optics. Since most metasurfaces could be continuously transformed from simple thin films, the methodologies proposed here are universal and may be applied to analyze and design various functional metasurfaces. Dispersion EngineeringWithout loss of generality, the geometry of almost all metasurfaces could be continuously transformed from simple thin films. The transformation process is illustrated in Figure 1. First, by stacking and bending multilayers, one obtain the superlens, planar hyperlens, and curved hyperlenses. [26][27][28] The hyperbolic dispersion in anisotropic metal-dielectric structures may lead to the formation of Dyakonov plasmons, which are similar to Dyakonov waves on anisotropic dielectric materials. [29][30][31][32][33][34] Second, a 90° rotation of the multilayer would result a 1D grating, which can be either periodic or gradient. Third,

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Optical skyrmion lattice in evanescent electromagnetic fields

Cited by 278 publications

References 49 publications

Meron Spin Textures in Momentum Space

Meron Spin Textures in Momentum Space

Light-controlled skyrmions and torons as reconfigurable particles

Methodologies for On‐Demand Dispersion Engineering of Waves in Metasurfaces

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