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Team from Nanyang Technological University used Poisson’s spot to simultaneously produce spin, Stokes, electric field, and magnetic field skyrmions, dispensing with sophisticated metamaterials and creating a simpler alternative to control the size, shape, and behavior of these luminous structures.
Optical skyrmions were produced by scientists from Nanyang Technological University, in Singapore, using a laser and a small circular disc. Published in the journal Optica, the method revives a phenomenon known for over 200 years and dispenses with expensive and complex metamaterials.
Optical skyrmions emerge with simpler configuration
Optical skyrmions are tiny, stable swirling patterns formed by the properties of light. Their structure is often compared to the spines of a hedgehog and can encode and store information.
Due to this characteristic, researchers consider these structures promising for future data storage, communication, and computing technologies. However, the methods traditionally used in their production rely on expensive, sophisticated, and artificially designed metamaterials.
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The team from NTU Singapore found a simpler alternative. The researchers directed a laser at a small circular disc and were able to produce, study, and control the complex structures without resorting to the systems used previously.
The discoveries were led by Assistant Professor Shen Yijie, from the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at NTU.
According to Shen, the striking aspect of the work is the possibility of generating skyrmions using only the effect by which light bends around an object, without expensive artificial metamaterials or highly specialized techniques.
The professor stated that reducing this technical barrier could make optical skyrmions more accessible. The method creates new possibilities for research in the fields of optics, materials, and computing.
200-year-old classic experiment gains new function
Innovation recovers the Poisson spot, an optical phenomenon in which a bright point appears at the center of the shadow produced by a circular object illuminated by a coherent light source, such as a laser.
This phenomenon played an important role in the scientific debate of the early 19th century. During that period, it was discussed whether light traveled only as particles in a straight line or also behaved as waves capable of bending and spreading.
The wave theory predicted the emergence of a bright point at the center of the disk’s shadow, precisely where complete darkness would be expected. The observation provided convincing evidence of light diffraction.
Diffraction occurs when light bends and spreads around objects or through small openings. More than 200 years later, this effect has come to support a simplified way of creating luminous topological structures.
Four types appear simultaneously
In the midst of the experiment with optical skyrmions, scientists found that the Poisson spot configuration naturally produced up to four related topological field patterns at the same time.
Spin skyrmions, Stokes skyrmions, electric field skyrmions, and magnetic field skyrmions were observed. The spin corresponds to the rotational properties of light.
The Stokes parameters describe polarization, that is, the direction in which light waves vibrate as they propagate. The other patterns are related to the vectors of the light’s electric and magnetic fields.
The simultaneous production allows for comparison of how different skyrmions form, evolve, and interact within the same luminous field. Computer simulations showed structures composed of rotating sets of arrows.
The arrows represent the changes in direction of the different properties of light along the Poisson spot. According to the researchers, the components are closely linked, but do not necessarily form identical topological patterns.
Control can achieve size, shape, and behavior
Light gathers manipulable properties such as intensity, phase, polarization, spin, and electric and magnetic field vectors. These characteristics can be organized into topological patterns that remain stable even when stretched or distorted.
By adjusting the conditions responsible for shaping the luminous field, scientists can precisely control the size, shape, and behavior of optical skyrmions.
Shen explained that various types of optical vectors can form topological structures simultaneously in the luminous point created by the team. The comparison may reveal new links between electrical, magnetic, and other physical properties of light.
Skyrmions were initially proposed in particle and nuclear physics. Later, they became an important area of research in condensed matter physics and the study of magnetic materials.
More recently, scientists have begun investigating optical skyrmions as stable, particle-like structures existing in light fields. The new configuration may expand access to this research field.
The work provides a foundation for future studies on topological light and may contribute to advances in photonics, advanced materials, information processing, and next-generation computing, keeping optical skyrmions at the center of these potential applications.
