Creating Complex Optical Longitudinal Polarization Structures

Abstract

In this paper we show that it is possible to structure the longitudinal polarization component of light. We illustrate our approach by demonstrating linked and knotted longitudinal vortex lines acquired upon non-paraxially propagating a tightly focused sub-wavelength beam. Remaining degrees of freedom in the transverse polarization components can be exploited to generate customized topological vector beams.

References in corpus (9)

• Electromagnetic Angular Momentum
• Electromagnetic Force and Momentum
• Reconfigurable knots and links in chiral nematic colloids
• Twisted-ligth--ion interaction: the role of longitudinal fields
• Self-organization of light in optical media with competing nonlinearities
• Selective reflection from Rb layer with thickness below $\lambda$/12 and applications
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• Excitation of knotted vortex lines in matter waves
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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Knotting fractional-order knots with the polarization state of light
• Singular knot bundle in light
• An intuitive approach to structuring the three polarization components of light
• Measurement of a wavelength sized optical vortex knot
• Stability of vortices in exciton-polariton condensates with spin-orbital-angular-momentum coupling
• Orbital angular momentum conversion of optical field without spin state