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Updated: Jun 17, 2026
11:08
Fabrication And Characterization Of Photonic Crystal Slow Light Waveguides And Cavities
Published on: November 30, 2012
Q-Plates: From Optical Vortices to Optical Skyrmions.
Vagharshak Hakobyan1, Etienne Brasselet1
1University of Bordeaux, CNRS, Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d'Aquitaine, F-33400 Talence, France.
Physical Review Letters
|March 14, 2025
Summary
Researchers extended the q-plate concept to create optical skyrmions. This new method allows for polarization-controlled Skyrme numbers and reconfigurable multiskyrmions using modified q-plates.
Area of Science:
- Optics and Photonics
- Condensed Matter Physics
Background:
- Q-plates are key devices for generating optical vortex beams with spin-orbit coupling.
- Optical skyrmions are topological spin structures with potential applications in information storage and processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To extend the q-plate concept for the generation of optical skyrmions.
- To achieve arbitrary order Stokes skyrmions with controllable topological properties.
Main Methods:
- Modification of q-plates by introducing a winding number related to the radial degree of freedom.
- Combining radial and azimuthal degrees of freedom in q-plates for skyrmion generation.
Main Results:
- Successful generation of Stokes skyrmions of arbitrary order.
- Demonstration of polarization-controlled Skyrme number.
- Realization of reconfigurable multiskyrmion states.
Conclusions:
- The extended q-plate provides a versatile platform for generating and controlling optical skyrmions.
- This work opens new avenues for topological photonics and spintronic applications.
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