Topological links and knots of speckled light mediated by coherence singularities

Zhuoyi Wang; Xingyuan Lu; Zhigang Chen; Yangjian Cai; Chengliang Zhao

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-01865-3

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Topological links and knots of speckled light mediated by coherence singularities

Original Articles

- Topological links and knots of speckled light mediated by coherence singularities
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 14, Issue 7, Pages: 1842-1850(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.School of Physical Science and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Frontier Material Physics and Devices & Suzhou Key Laboratory of Intelligent Photoelectric Perception, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
  2.The MOE Key Laboratory of Weak-Light Nonlinear Photonics, TEDA Applied Physics Institute and School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300457, China
  3.Shandong Provincial Engineering and Technical Center of Light Manipulations & Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optics and Photonic Device, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China
  4.Joint Research Center of Light Manipulation Science and Photonic Integrated Chip, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
- Author bio：
  
  Zhigang Chen (zgchen@nankai.edu.cn)
  Yangjian Cai (yangjiancai@sdnu.edu.cn)
  Chengliang Zhao (zhaochengliang@suda.edu.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-01865-3
  CLC：
- Received：10 December 2024，
  
  Revised：25 March 2025，
  
  Accepted：08 April 2025，
  
  Published Online：27 April 2025，
  
  Published：31 July 2025
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Wang, Z Y. et al. Topological links and knots of speckled light mediated by coherence singularities. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 1842-1850 (2025).
DOI：

Wang, Z Y. et al. Topological links and knots of speckled light mediated by coherence singularities. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 1842-1850 (2025). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-01865-3.

摘要

Abstract

Links and knots are exotic topological structures that have garnered significant interest across multiple branches of natural sciences. Coherent links and knots

such as those constructed by phase or polarization singularities of coherent light

have been observed in various three-dimensional optical settings. However

incoherent links and knots—knotted or connected lines of coherence singularities—arise from a fundamentally different concept. They are “hidden” in the statistic properties of a randomly fluctuating field

making their presence often elusive or undetectable. Here

we theoretically construct and experimentally demonstrate such topological entities of incoherent light. By leveraging a state-of-the-art incoherent modal-decomposition scheme

we unveil incoherent topological structures from fluctuating light speckles

including Hopf links and Trefoil knots of coherence singularities that are robust against coherence and intensity fluctuations. Our work is applicable to diverse wave systems where incoherence or practical coherence is prevalent

and may pave the way for design and implementation of statistically-shaped topological structures for various applications such as high-dimensional optical information encoding and optical communications.

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Keywords

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