Print Email Facebook Twitter Multi-twist polarization ribbon topologies in highly-confined optical fields Title Multi-twist polarization ribbon topologies in highly-confined optical fields Author Bauer, T.A. (TU Delft QN/Kuipers Lab; Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light; Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg; Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft) Banzer, Peter (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light; Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg; University of Ottawa) Bouchard, Frédéric (University of Ottawa) Orlov, Sergej (State Research Institute Center for Physical Sciences and Technology) Marrucci, Lorenzo (University of Napoli Federico II) Santamato, Enrico (University of Napoli Federico II) Boyd, Robert W. (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light; University of Ottawa; University of Rochester Institute of Optics) Karimi, Ebrahim (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light; University of Ottawa) Leuchs, Gerd (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light; Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg; University of Ottawa) Date 2019 Abstract Electromagnetic plane waves, solutions to Maxwell's equations, are said to be 'transverse' in vacuum. Namely, the waves' oscillatory electric and magnetic fields are confined within a plane transverse to the waves' propagation direction. Under tight-focusing conditions however, the field can exhibit longitudinal electric or magnetic components, transverse spin angular momentum, or non-trivial topologies such as Möbius strips. Here, we show that when a suitably spatially structured beam is tightly focused, a three-dimensional polarization topology in the form of a ribbon with two full twists appears in the focal volume. We study experimentally the stability and dynamics of the observed polarization ribbon by exploring its topological structure for various radii upon focusing and for different propagation planes. Subject polarization topologyRibbon topologytight-focusing beams To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:357e3e2b-b58d-43d4-bb92-7636846aeaf9 DOI https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ab171b ISSN 1367-2630 Source New Journal of Physics, 21 (5) Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2019 T.A. Bauer, Peter Banzer, Frédéric Bouchard, Sergej Orlov, Lorenzo Marrucci, Enrico Santamato, Robert W. Boyd, Ebrahim Karimi, Gerd Leuchs Files PDF Bauer_2019_New_J._Phys._2 ... 053020.pdf 1.22 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:357e3e2b-b58d-43d4-bb92-7636846aeaf9/datastream/OBJ/view