Dynamics of topological multipoles: I. High-order nonparaxial singular beams

Approximate boundary conditions for matching the high-order nonparaxial and paraxial singular beams propagating through free space or through a homogeneous isotropic medium are formulated. It is found that the nonparaxial and paraxial beams have almost the same structure both in the vicinity of the focal caustic and away from it. In the intermediate zone, the beam profiles are distorted, and a phase mismatch arises and increases with increasing mode order. The combined nonparaxial singular beams are devised, and their dynamics is studied. It is shown that the problem of matching the paraxial and nonparaxial wave functions may be reformulated as a problem of the phase matching for nonparaxial wave function. Such a problem is similar to the mode-dispersion problem and is unsolvable in terms of a linear problem for the entire optical axis. Thus, it makes sense to discuss either the precise matching of the paraxial and nonparaxial beams within small spatial zones or an approximate matching away from the focal plane but at long distances along the optical axis.     

The structure of a nonparaxial Gaussian beam near the focus: II. Optical vortices

Exact analytical solutions of Maxwell’s equations describing the behavior of a nonparaxial optical vortex in the vicinity of a focal waist are obtained using the Whittaker method of scalar potentials, the point complex source method, and approximate Davis boundary conditions. It is shown that nonparaxial optical vortices in free space fall into three large groups: even and odd vortices with preferential circular polarization and azimuthally symmetric TE and TM vortices. The fields of even and odd nonparaxial vortices agree well with the fields of guided homogeneous and inhomogeneous vortices of a weakly guiding fiber. In the paraxial approximation, the expressions obtained for the fields are transformed to the fields of paraxial optical vortices. In the focal region, a nonparaxial beam experiences elliptic deformation of the cross section. This elliptic deformation is shown to result from the asymmetric location of regions with negative energy flows. The reversal of sign of the topological charge and the helicity of a combination of even and odd vortices causes both rotation of the dislocation axis through π/2 and longitudinal displacement of the focal spot, which are the transverse and the longitudinal optical Magnus effects.     

Creation and annihilation operators for Nielsen-Olesen vortices in the coherent state approximation

Using the standard techniques of canonical quantization, we construct approximate expressions for the creation and annihilation operators for Nielsen-Olesen vortices. The forms for the creation and annihilation operators are appropriate to situations where large-scale vortex condensation takes place. In particular, a phenomenon such as this is basic in the quark confinement schemes of Mandelstam and 't Hooft.     

Creation of topological vortices using Pancharatnam-Berry phase liquid crystal holographic plates

Recently,physical fields with topological configurations are evoking increasing attention due to their fascinating structures both in fundamental researches and practical applications.Therein,topological light fields,because of their unique opportunity of combining experimental and analytical studies,are attracting more interest.Here,based on the Pancharatnam-Berry(PB)phase,we report the creation of Hopf linked and Trefoil knotted optical vortices by using phaseonly encoded liquid crystal(LC)holographic plates.Utilizing scanning measurement and the digital holographic interference method,we accurately locate the vortex singularities and map these topological nodal lines in three-dimensions.Compared with the common methods realized by the spatial light modulator(SLM),the phase-only LC plate is more efficient.Meanwhile,the smaller pixel size of the LC element reduces the imperfection induced by optical misalignment and pixellation.Moreover,we analyze the influence of the incident beam size on the topological configuration.     

Measuring the topological charge of optical vortices with an axicon

We analyzed the spatial spectrum of the diffraction intensity pattern of an ideal Bessel beam and found an implicit rule that the number of the bright rings in the spatial spectrum is equal to the topological charge of the Bessel beam. The radius of the bright and dark rings has some relation with the topological charge and can be determined accurately. It provides us with a new way for measuring the topological charge of an optical vortex through its diffraction intensity pattern after an axicon. The results of simulation coincide with the theory.     

Structure of a nonparaxial gaussian beam near the focus: III. Stability,eigenmodes, and vortices

Exact analytical structurally stable solutions of the Maxwell equations for singular mode beams propagating in free space or a uniform isotropic medium are obtained. Approximate boundary conditions are chosen in the form of the requirement that in the paraxial approximation the fields of nonparaxial mode beams in the waist plane are transformed into the fields of eigenmodes and vortices of weakly guiding optical fibers with the axial symmetry of refractive index. It is shown that optical vortices, in spite of a rather complex structure of field distribution, do not experience substantial changes in the beam form and reproduce, in general features, the field of paraxial vortices. Linear perturbations of the characteristic parameters of mode beams do not change the structure of their electromagnetic field. Nonparaxial singular beams have one more important property, in addition to the fact that the structure of these beams in the paraxial approximation is similar to the structure of the fields of eigenmodes in a fiber. The propagation constants of eigenmodes of a fiber exactly coincide (in the first approximation of perturbation theory) with the projection of the wave vector of a mode beam on the optical axis (an analog of the propagation constant). The possibility of the paraxial transition for nonparaxial mode beams with arbitrary values of azimuthal and radial indices is shown. The properties of nonparaxial modes are illustrated by numerous examples. The solutions obtained and the results of their analysis can be used for exact matching optical fibers and laser beams in various applications.     

Symmetry breaking of optical vortices: birth and annihilation of singularities in the evanescent field

The interaction of optical vortices (or phase singularities, or screw dislocations) with ordinary matter is treated with a simple approach. Using the total internal reflection phenomenon and the superposition of four plane waves incident on a material with a refractive index lower than the original propagating medium, we are able to show the birth and annihilation of optical vortices in an evanescent field with curved topological features. Until now, this phenomenon has been explored only in free space propagation. By a suitable tuning process involving the incident angles and the amplitudes of the incident plane waves, it is possible to create unusual topological features of optical vortices in the vicinity of the material. We believe that this work can open new aspects of curved optical vortex manipulation in near-field optics.     

Measuring the topological charge of optical vortices with a single plate

Measuring the topological charge(TC) of optical vortex beams by the edge-diffraction pattern of a single plate is proposed and demonstrated. The diffraction fringes can keep well discernible in a wide three-dimensional range in this method. The redundant fringes of the diffracted fork-shaped pattern in the near-field can determine the TC value, and the orientation of the fork tells the handedness of the vortex. The plate can be opaque or translucent, and the requirement of the translucent plate ...     

Conversion of topological charge of optical vortices in a parametric frequency converter

It is shown that sum-frequency generation of light beams with vortices allows to construct vortices of different topological charges. An optical parametric amplifier enables to produce a vortex with opposite topological charge (to the reverse vortex). In this way, a frequency converter can be seen as a prototype of an optical processor which allows to produce simple arithmetical operations with topological charges of the interacting vortices.     

Optical sorting using an array of optical vortices with fractional topological charge

An array of optical vortices with fractional topological charge is generated using a phase-only Talbot array illuminator and used to sort microparticles. Our theoretical analysis and experimental results reveal that when a particle passes through a fractional vortex array, it will be driven by two forces, intensity-gradient force and phase-gradient force, and the cooperation of these two forces can improve its ability in optical sorting because of the special intensity and phase distribution of the fractional optical vortex array. Larger angle separation could be obtained with moderate laser power.     

Dynamics of kinks: nucleation, diffusion, and annihilation

We investigate the nucleation, annihilation, and dynamics of kinks in a classical (1+1)-dimensional straight phi(4) field theory at finite temperature. From large scale Langevin simulations, we establish that the nucleation rate is proportional to the square of the equilibrium density of kinks. We identify two annihilation time scales: one due to kink-antikink pair recombination after nucleation, the other from nonrecombinant annihilation. We introduce a mesoscopic model of diffusing kinks based on "paired" and "survivor" kinks and antikinks. Analytical predictions for the dynamical time scales, as well as the corresponding length scales, are in good agreement with the simulations.     

Optical vortices in low-mode fibers: III. Dislocation reactions, phase transitions, and topological birefringence

Topological birefringence of waves in optical fibers resulting from the spin-orbit interaction in the field of optical vortices is manifested, as a rule, in the form of Rytov-Magnus unified optical effect. At the same time, the field transformations caused by this effect are not explicitly related to the evolution of phase dislocations of longitudinal and transverse components of the electric and the magnetic fields. This relation can be provided by the dislocation reactions proposed by Berry. As opposed to the Berry’s approach, where dislocation reactions at the wavefront surface are considered, it is suggested in this work that topological reactions at the specific characteristic surface of the wave field formed by the coordinate representation of the transverse components of the Poynting vector be considered. Using the action of topological birefringence in a low-mode optical fiber as an example, it is shown that the course of a topological reaction in a vector optical field is accompanied by rigorous conservation of the total topological index of the characteristic surface and does not depend on the presence of an interface (where topological charges can originate and annihilate). The total topological index of a dislocation reaction is found to be equal to the absolute value of the sum of the topological charge and the spirality of the vector wave field.     

Creation of solitons and vortices by bragg reflection of Bose-Einstein condensates in an optical lattice

We study the dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates in an optical lattice and harmonic trap. The condensates are set in motion by displacing the trap and initially follow simple semiclassical paths, shaped by the lowest energy band. Above a critical displacement, the condensate undergoes Bragg reflection. For high atom densities, the first Bragg reflection generates a train of solitons and vortices, which destabilize the condensate and trigger explosive expansion. At lower densities, soliton and vortex formation requires multiple Bragg reflections, and damps the center-of-mass motion.     

Controllable optical rogue waves: Recurrence, annihilation and sustainment

We investigate optical rogue waves in nonlinear optical fiber with group-velocity dispersion, cubic nonlinearity and linear gain managements. We present conditions for controlling the dynamics of optical pulses via a lens-type transformation. By properly choosing the distributed coefficients, we demonstrate analytically that rogue waves can be restrained or even be annihilated, emerge periodically and sustain forever. We also figure out the center-of-mass motion of rogue waves.     

The new method of topological charge determination of optical vortices in the interference field of the optical vortex interferometer

In this paper, the new method of determination of the topological charge of vortex points in the interference field obtained by three plane waves interference is presented. Such optical fields are used in the optical vortex interferometer (OVI) and the determination of vortex points’ topological charge allows of unique determination of the relative phase between interfering waves (phase unwrapping problem). The new method uses additional plane wave, which produce a characteristic fork-like fringe structure in the neighbourhood of vortex points. By analysing the orientation of these fork-like patterns one can read the sign of the topological charge of the given vortex point. The method is simple and can be used for OVI calibration performed before the measurements.     

Microstructural evolution of ZnS during sintering monitored by optical and positron annihilation techniques

Positron lifetime and optical absorption techniques were employed to track the microstructural evolution of polycrystalline ZnS grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). As grown material and material treated with Hot Isostatic Pressure (HIP) was sintered at temperatures ranging from 400 to 1000°C for 2–18 h. A 290 ps defect lifetime could be resolved in all samples, while an additional longer lifetime (=430 ps) was found only in samples annealed at low temperatures. This component gradually disappeared during annealing at 800°C. Associated with the disappearance of the long-lived component, the apparent bulk lifetime of the material changed from 235 to 215 ps. A 215±2 ps bulk parameter was also found for HIP-treated material annealed at temperatures greater than 400°C and hence is taken to represent the delocalized state of the positrons in ZnS. Optical absorption measurements showed that annealing at 800°C also caused the absorption profiles of the CVD and HIP samples to converge. The rate of the bulk lifetime transition correlates with the absorption changes. The observed sharpening of the absorption profile is attributed to a decrease in scattering from grain boundaries and voids, and a decrease in absorption from point defects. The 430 ps lifetime is believed to be due to trapping at voids and grain boundaries, while the 290 ps lifetime likely is due to a monovacancy stabilized as a small complex.Paper presented at the 132nd WE-Heraeus-Seminr on Positron Studies of Semiconductor Defects, Halle, Germany, 29 August to 2 September 1994     

Filter of optical vortices: highly twisted high-birefringence optical fibers

Modes and bandgap structure of highly twisted high-birefringence weakly guiding fibers are studied in the scalar approximation. It is shown that within the gap the system can serve as a filter of circular optical vortices.