Light structuring via nonlinear total angular momentum addition with flat optics

Evgenii Menshikov; Paolo Franceschini; Kristina Frizyuk; Ivan Fernandez-Corbaton; Andrea Tognazzi; Alfonso Carmelo Cino; Denis Garoli; Mihail Petrov; Domenico de Ceglia; Costantino De Angelis

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-02004-8

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Light structuring via nonlinear total angular momentum addition with flat optics

Original Articles

- Light structuring via nonlinear total angular momentum addition with flat optics
- Light structuring via nonlinear total angular momentum addition with flat optics
- Light: Science & Applications 2025年14卷第12期页码：4076-4085
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Department of Information Engineering, University of Brescia, Via Branze, 38, Brescia 25123, Italy
  2.National Institute of Optics-National Research Council, Via Branze, 45, Brescia 25123, Italy
  3.Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kaiserstrasse, 12, Karlsruhe 76131, Germany
  4.Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 9, Palermo 90128, Italy
  5.Dipartimento di Scienze e Metodi dell'Ingegneria, Università Degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Amendola, 2, Reggio Emilia 43122, Italy
  6.New Uzbekistan University, Mirzo Ulugbek Movarounnahr 1 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- Author bio：
  
  Domenico de Ceglia (domenico.deceglia@unibs.it)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-02004-8
  中图分类号：
- 收稿：2024-12-26，
  
  修回：2025-07-22，
  
  录用：2025-08-11，
  
  网络出版：2025-11-12，
  
  纸质出版：2025-12-31
- Accepted：
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Evgenii Menshikov, Paolo Franceschini, Kristina Frizyuk, 等. Light structuring via nonlinear total angular momentum addition with flat optics[J]. Light: Science & Applications, 2025,14(12):4076-4085.

Menshikov, E. et al. Light structuring via nonlinear total angular momentum addition with flat optics. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 4076-4085 (2025).
Evgenii Menshikov, Paolo Franceschini, Kristina Frizyuk, 等. Light structuring via nonlinear total angular momentum addition with flat optics[J]. Light: Science & Applications, 2025,14(12):4076-4085. DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-02004-8.

Menshikov, E. et al. Light structuring via nonlinear total angular momentum addition with flat optics. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 4076-4085 (2025). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-02004-8.

摘要

Abstract

Shaping the structure of light with flat optical devices has driven significant advancements in our fundamental understanding of light and light-matter interactions

and enabled a broad range of applications

from image processing and microscopy to optical communication

quantum information processing

and the manipulation of microparticles. Yet

pushing the boundaries of structured light beyond the linear optical regime remains an open challenge. Nonlinear optical interactions

such as wave mixing in nonlinear flat optics

offer a powerful platform to unlock new degrees of freedom and functionalities for generating and detecting structured light. In this study

we experimentally demonstrate the non-trivial structuring of third-harmonic light enabled by the addition of total angular momentum projection in a nonlinear

isotropic flat optics element—a single thin film of amorphous silicon. We identify the total angular momentum projection and helicity as the most critical properties for analyzing the experimental results. The theoretical approach we propose

supported by numerical simulations

offers quantitative predictions for light structuring through nonlinear wave mixing under various pumping conditions

including vectorial and non-paraxial pump light. Notably

we reveal that the shape of third-harmonic light is highly sensitive to the polarization state of the pump. Our findings demonstrate that harnessing the addition of total angular momentum projection in nonlinear wave mixing can be a powerful strategy for generating and detecting precisely controlled structured light.

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Keywords

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