The Future Optical Laboratory led by Academician Zhuang Song Lin has made another greater progress in spatiotemporal light field manipulation. The Nano-photonics Team chaired by Prof. Zhan Qiwen published a cover paper “Toroidal vortices of light” in an international top journal: Nature-Photonics. Lately, the series of achievements has been recommended as world top 30 major optical achievements of 2022 by OPTICA. (Optics in 2022, Optics & Photonics News).
They have experimentally demonstrated the generation of a photonic toroidal vortex as a new solution to Maxwell’s equations through optical conformal mapping. The preparation of photonic vortex rings is of great significance in the study of toroidal electrodynamics, light-matter interactions, and photonic symmetry and topology. The concept and conformal mapping method can be readily extended to other spectra, such as electron beams, X-rays and even mechanical waves such as acoustics, hydrodynamics and aerodynamics, opening up new opportunities for studying vortex rings in a wide range of disciplines.
The theory and experimental methods based on optical transformation offers a new insight for the generation and characterization of three-dimensional complex spatiotemporal light field. The birth of photonic vortex rings enjoys great and far-reaching meaning for the theoretical study of ring-shaped symmetric electrodynamics, ring-shaped symmetric plasma physics, optical symmetry and topology, quantum physics, astrophysics, as well as the applied research of optical sensing, optical manipulation, optical information and energy transfer.
The research wins the support of the key project “Major research plan of new light field manipulation physics and application” from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Cover paper of Nature-photonics
Recommended as world top 30 major optical achievements of 2022 by OPTICA
Link to the paper:
1. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41566-022-01013-y
2. https://www.optica-opn.org/home/articles/volume_33/december_2022/extras/toroidal_vortices_of_light/
3. https://www.optica-opn.org/home/articles/volume_33/december_2022/features/optics_in_2022/
