Phonon-polaritonic skyrmions: transition from bubble- to Néel-type

Florian Mangold; Enrico Baù; Lin Nan; Julian Schwab; Thorsten Gölz; Andrea Mancini; Bettina Frank; Andreas Tittl; Harald Giessen

doi:10.1038/s41377-026-02332-3

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Phonon-polaritonic skyrmions: transition from bubble- to Néel-type

Original Articles

- Phonon-polaritonic skyrmions: transition from bubble- to Néel-type
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 6, Pages: 1827-1836(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.4th Physics Institute, Research Center SCoPE, and Integrated Quantum Science and Technology Center, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
  2.Chair in Hybrid Nanosystems, Nano-Institute Munich, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, Munich, Germany
- Author bio：
  
  Andreas Tittl (Andreas.Tittl@physik.uni-muenchen.de)
  Harald Giessen (giessen@pi4.uni-stuttgart.de)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02332-3
  CLC：
- Received：27 November 2025，
  
  Revised：2026-04-20，
  
  Accepted：22 April 2026，
  
  Online First：18 May 2026，
  
  Published：30 June 2026
- Accepted：
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Mangold, F. et al. Phonon-polaritonic skyrmions: transition from bubble- to Néel-type. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1827-1836 (2026).
DOI：

Mangold, F. et al. Phonon-polaritonic skyrmions: transition from bubble- to Néel-type. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1827-1836 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02332-3.

摘要

Abstract

Optical skyrmions are members of the emerging topological branch of solid-state physics and photonics

allowing for control over topological light textures through light-matter interactions. However

in nanophotonics their practical application has been severely limited by high inherent losses in plasmonic materials

resulting in the lack of tunability between different topological properties. Here

we utilize the strong dispersion of silicon carbide thin films to realize highly confined surface phonon-polariton skyrmion lattices

which we image via near-field microscopy. We experimentally demonstrate topological tuning between bubble- and Néel-type skyrmions

a unique advantage that polar dielectrics offer over most existing approaches. Changing the excitation wavelength by only 10% switches the skyrmion type

revealed by examination of the skyrmion number density contrast. Analysis of domain wall size and steepness in analogy to magnetic materials also confirms this transition. Our results are a starting point to investigate other topological features in

phononic

systems such as merons

skyrmion bags

and other complex structured light fields. Furthermore

strong light-matter hybridization and nonlinear effects owing to anharmonicity of the phonons may be observed in the future

possibly leading towards the discovery of polaritonic skyrmion-skyrmion interactions and hence applications in topology-based information processing.

关键词

Keywords

references

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