Construction of optical spatiotemporal skyrmions

Houan Teng; Xin Liu; Nianjia Zhang; Haihao Fan; Guoliang Chen; Qian Cao; Jinzhan Zhong; Xinrui Lei; Qiwen Zhan

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-02028-0

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Construction of optical spatiotemporal skyrmions

Original Articles

- Construction of optical spatiotemporal skyrmions
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 14, Issue 11, Pages: 3496-3505(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
  2.Shandong Provincial Engineering and Technical Center of Light Manipulations and Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optics and Photonic Device, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
  3.Collaborative Innovation Center of Light Manipulations and Applications, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
  4.Zhejiang Key Laboratory of 3D Micro/Nano Fabrication and Characterization, Department of Electronic and Information Engineering, School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
  5.Westlake Institute for Optoelectronics, Fuyang, Hangzhou, China
  6.Zhangjiang Laboratory, Shanghai, China
  7.International Institute for Sustainability with Knotted Chiral Meta Matter (WPI-SKCM2), Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan
- Author bio：
  
  Xinrui Lei (xrlei@usst.edu.cn)
  Qiwen Zhan (qwzhan@usst.edu.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-02028-0
  CLC：
- Received：11 April 2025，
  
  Revised：2025-08-14，
  
  Accepted：31 August 2025，
  
  Published Online：16 September 2025，
  
  Published：30 November 2025
- Accepted：
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Teng, H. et al. Construction of optical spatiotemporal skyrmions. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 3496-3505 (2025).
DOI：

Teng, H. et al. Construction of optical spatiotemporal skyrmions. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 3496-3505 (2025). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-02028-0.

摘要

Abstract

The creation and manipulation of photonic skyrmions provide a novel degree of freedom for light-matter interactions

optical communication and nanometrology. Since the localized vortex within skyrmions arises from the twist and curl of the phase structure

the orbital angular momentum of light is essential for their construction. While numerous skyrmionic textures have been proposed

they are formed within the spatial domain and induced by the longitudinal orbital angular momentum. Here we theoretically propose and experimentally observe spatiotemporal skyrmions within a picosecond pulse wavepacket

generated through vectorial sculpturing of spatiotemporal wavepackets. The skyrmionic textures emerge within the spatiotemporal distribution of a vector field encompass all possible polarization states. Constructed upon the transverse orbital angular momentum

spatiotemporal skyrmions

in contrast to spatial skyrmions

exhibit no helical twisting perpendicular to the skyrmion plane

demonstrating potential stability against deformations or perturbations. These results expand the skyrmion family and offer new insights into optical quasiparticles

potentially leading to advanced applications in optical metrology

sensing

and data storage.

关键词

Keywords

references

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