Observation of toroidal pulses of light

Zdagkas，Apostolos1; McDonnell，Cormac2; Deng，Junhong3,4; Shen，Yijie1; Li，Guixin3,4; Ellenbogen，Tal2; Papasimakis，Nikitas1; Zheludev，Nikolay I.1,5

2022-07-01

10.1038/s41566-022-01028-5

Nature Photonics   Impact Factor & Quartile

1749-4885

1749-4893

["Pulses of light with a toroidal structure are experimentally realized in the terahertz and optical regions.","Transverse electromagnetic waves are important carriers of information and energy. In 1996, Hellwarth and Nouchi theoretically identified a radically different, non-transverse type of electromagnetic pulse with a toroidal topology. These pulses, which are propagating counterparts of localized toroidal dipole excitations in matter, exhibit unique electromagnetic wave properties and, so far, have never been experimentally realized and observed. Here we report the generation of such toroidal light pulses in the optical and terahertz regions by the use of tailored nanostructured meta-surfaces. This achievement paves the way for experimental studies of energy and information transfer with toroidal light pulses, their space-time coupling and their light-matter interactions involving anapoles, localized space-time coupled excitations, skyrmions and toroidal qubits, which are of growing interest for the fundamental science of light and applications."]

SCI ; EI

English

NI Journal Papers

Others

UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council[EP/M009122/1] ; MOE Singapore[MOE2016-T3-1-006] ; European Research Council[FLEET-786851] ; European Research Council under the European Union[715362] ; NSFC-ISF joint grant["12161141010","3450/21"] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China["91950114","11774145"] ; Guangdong Provincial Innovation and Entrepreneurship Project[2017ZT07C071] ; Natural Science Foundation of Shenzhen Innovation Commission[JCYJ20200109140808088]

Optics ; Physics

Optics ; Physics, Applied

WOS:000819805400013

NATURE PORTFOLIO

20222712323304

Circular waveguides ; Electromagnetic pulse ; Light transmission

Electricity and Magnetism:701 ; Waveguides:714.3 ; Light/Optics:741.1

2-s2.0-85130831635

Web of Science

1.Optoelectronics Research Centre and Centre for Photonic Metamaterials,University of Southampton,Southampton,United Kingdom
2.Department of Physical Electronics,School of Electrical Engineering,Tel-Aviv University,Tel Aviv,Israel
3.Department of Materials Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,China
4.Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,China
5.Centre for Disruptive Photonic Technologies,School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and the Photonics Institute,Nanyang Technological University,Singapore,Singapore

Zdagkas，Apostolos,McDonnell，Cormac,Deng，Junhong,et al. Observation of toroidal pulses of light[J]. Nature Photonics,2022,16(7):523-528.

Zdagkas，Apostolos.,McDonnell，Cormac.,Deng，Junhong.,Shen，Yijie.,Li，Guixin.,...&Zheludev，Nikolay I..(2022).Observation of toroidal pulses of light.Nature Photonics,16(7),523-528.

Zdagkas，Apostolos,et al."Observation of toroidal pulses of light".Nature Photonics 16.7(2022):523-528.