Programmable 2D photonic quasicrystals with real-time reconfigurability

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Materials Science
• Optical Engineering

Background:

• Photonic quasicrystals (PQCs) exhibit unique wave phenomena.
• Existing methods for PQC generation lack real-time tunability.
• Controlling PQC properties is crucial for advanced optical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a programmable and reconfigurable approach for generating 2D photonic quasicrystals (PQCs).
• To enable real-time switching between diverse PQC structures with high symmetry and tailored properties.
• To provide a versatile platform for emerging optical and quantum applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a spatial light modulator (SLM) to encode complex amplitude and emulate tunable PQC lattices.
• Directly engineering diffractive patterns to define the PQC structure.
• Implementing parameter optimization for customized PQC structures.

Main Results:

• Achieved real-time switching of PQCs at 60 Hz.
• Demonstrated PQCs with up to 26-fold rotational symmetry.
• Enabled tailorable orbital angular momentum (OAM) and distortion control.
• Experimentally validated the reliability and scalability of the SLM-based method.

Conclusions:

• The SLM-based programmable approach offers a versatile and reliable method for generating reconfigurable PQCs.
• This technique facilitates direct applications in localization, topological photonics, and parallel optical trapping.
• The platform supports diverse and emerging optical and quantum applications requiring tunable photonic structures.