Optical second-order skyrmionic hopfion

Due to their topological stability and spatial confinement, particle-like field configurations have gained significant interest in many areas of physics. Only recently, the first skyrmionic hopfion was proposed in light, but its higher-order analog in optics has stayed a theoretical construct so far...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inOptica Vol. 10; no. 6; p. 725
Main Authors Ehrmanntraut, Daniel, Droop, Ramon, Sugic, Danica, Otte, Eileen, Dennis, Mark R., Denz, Cornelia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 20.06.2023
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Summary:Due to their topological stability and spatial confinement, particle-like field configurations have gained significant interest in many areas of physics. Only recently, the first skyrmionic hopfion was proposed in light, but its higher-order analog in optics has stayed a theoretical construct so far, and direct experimental observations also prove difficult in non-optical systems. Here we overcome this challenge by the experimental realization and analysis of a second-order skyrmionic hopfion in the polarization and phase texture of a paraxial light field in three-dimensional space. Thereby, we exemplify advanced control of observed parameters in a localized space, pioneering further experimental studies on higher-order hopfions in optics and beyond.
ISSN:2334-2536
2334-2536
DOI:10.1364/OPTICA.487989