Tunable structured laser over full spatial spectrum

Quan Sheng; Jing-Ni Geng; Jia-Qi Jiang; Tian-Chang Liu; David James Spence; Helen Margaret Pask; Allam Srinivasa Rao; Takashige Omatsu; Shi-Jie Fu; Zhen-Xu Bai; Zhi-Wei Lv; Wei Shi; Jian-Quan Yao; Carmelo Rosales-Guzmán; Zhi-Han Zhu

doi:10.1038/s41377-026-02243-3

Your Location：

Home >

Browse articles >

Tunable structured laser over full spatial spectrum

Original Articles

- Tunable structured laser over full spatial spectrum
- Tunable structured laser over full spatial spectrum
- Light: Science & Applications 2026年15卷第6期页码：1926-1935
- Affiliations：
  
  1.State Key Laboratory of Precision Measuring Technology and Instruments, School of Precision Instrument of Opto-Electronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
  2.Institute of Quantum Science and Technology, and Department of Physics, Yanbian University, Yanji 133002 Jilin, China
  3.Wang Da-Heng Center, Heilongjiang Key Laboratory of Quantum Control, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150080, China
  4.MQ Photonics Research Centre, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
  5.Molecular Chirality Research Center, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8522, Japan
  6.Center for Advanced Laser Technology, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China
  7.Centro de Investigaciones en Óptica, A.C., Loma del Bosque 115, Colonia Lomas del Campestre, 37150 León, GTO, Mexico
- Author bio：
  
  Wei Shi (shiwei@tju.edu.cn)
  Zhi-Han Zhu (zhuzhihan@ybu.edu.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02243-3
  中图分类号：
- 收稿：2025-08-14，
  
  修回：2026-01-22，
  
  录用：2026-02-11，
  
  网络首发：2026-03-13，
  
  纸质出版：2026-06-30
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Quan Sheng, Jing-Ni Geng, Jia-Qi Jiang, 等. Tunable structured laser over full spatial spectrum[J]. Light: Science & Applications, 2026,15(6):1926-1935.

Sheng, Q. et al. Tunable structured laser over full spatial spectrum. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1926-1935 (2026).
Quan Sheng, Jing-Ni Geng, Jia-Qi Jiang, 等. Tunable structured laser over full spatial spectrum[J]. Light: Science & Applications, 2026,15(6):1926-1935. DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02243-3.

Sheng, Q. et al. Tunable structured laser over full spatial spectrum. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1926-1935 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02243-3.

摘要

Abstract

Modern tunable lasers are indispensable instruments in fundamental science and optical frequency applications. With the growing interest in structured light

there's a need for tunable structured lasers with high transverse electromagnetic (TEM) modal purity across a broad spatial spectrum

but no commercial solutions exist. Here

we present the first tunable structured laser that can emit all possible single TEM modes with extremely high purity over a wide range. This is achieved by the collaborative use of intracavity pump geometry and astigmatic detuning to selectively gain a desired mode while blockading others. Our astigmatic oscillator can tunably generate any TEM mode within the spatial bandwidth

achieving over 40

000 orthogonal Hermite-Gauss modes in the experiment

and each can be further expanded into numerous Hermite-Laguerre-Gauss modes via unitary transformation. This approach does not require extra intracavity beam shaping components

offering a promising design for commercially available structured lasers with full spatial spectrum tunability.

关键词

Keywords

references

Duarte, F. J. Tunable Laser Optics 2nd edn (CRC Press, 2015).

Freudiger, C. W. et al. Stimulated Raman scattering microscopy with a robust fibre laser source. Nat. Photonics 8 , 153–159 (2014)..

Zhang, Q. et al. Room-temperature near-infrared high-Q perovskite whispering-gallery planar nano lasers. Nano Lett. 14 , 5995–6001 (2014)..

Yang, J. K. et al. Titanium: sapphire-on-insulator integrated lasers and amplifiers. Nature 630 , 853–859 (2024)..

Coldren, L. A. et al. Tunable semiconductor lasers: a tutorial. J. Lightwave Technol. 22 , 193–202 (2004)..

Siegman, A. E. Lasers Ch. 11, 432–440 (University Sciences Books, 1986).

Forbes, A. et al. Structured light. Nat. Photonics 15 , 253–262 (2021)..

Allen, L. et al. Orbital angular-momentum of light and the transformation of Laguerre–Gaussian laser modes. Phys. Rev. A 45 , 8185–8189 (1992)..

Shen, Y. et al. Optical vortices 30 years on: OAM manipulation from topological charge to multiple singularities. Light Sci. Appl. 8 , 90 (2019)..

Liu, X. et al. Spatiotemporal optical vortices with controllable radial and azimuthal quantum numbers. Nat. Commun. 15 , 5435 (2024)..

Yao, A. M. & Padgett, M. J. Orbital angular momentum: origins, behavior and applications. Adv. Opt. Photonics 3 , 161–204 (2011)..

Wang, J. W. et al. Vectorial light-matter interaction–exploring spatially structured complex light fields. AVS Quantum Sci. 2 , 031702 (2020)..

Rubinsztein-Dunlop, H. et al. Roadmap on structured light. J. Opt. 19 , 013001 (2016)..

Goldberg, A. Z. et al. Quantum concepts in optical polarization. Adv. Opt. Photonics 13 , 1 (2020)..

Buono, W. T. & Forbes, A. Nonlinear optics with structured light. Opto-Electron. Adv. 5 , 210174 (2022)..

Dorrah, A. H. & Capasso, F. Tunable structured light with flat optics. Science 376 , eabi6860 (2022)..

Forbes, A. et al. Orbital angular momentum lasers. Nat. Rev. Phys. 6 , 352–364 (2024)..

Forbes, A. Structured ligh t from lasers. Laser Photonics Rev. 13 , 1900140 (2019)..

Sroor, H. et al. High-purity orbital angular momentum states from a visible metasurface laser. Nat. Photonics 14 , 498–503 (2020)..

Carbone, L. et al. Generation of high-purity higher-order Laguerre-Gauss beams at high laser power. Phys. Rev. Lett. 110 , 251101 (2013)..

Kozawa, A., Ito, Y. & Sato, S. Generation of hollow scalar and vector beams using a spot-defect mirror. J. Opt. Soc. Am. A Opt. Image Sci. Vis. 27 , 2072–2077 (2010)..

Qiao, Z. et al. Generating high-charge optical vortices directly from laser up to 288th order. Laser Photonics Rev. 12 , 1800019 (2018)..

Sheng, Q. et al. Ultra-high-order Laguerre–Gaussian field generated directly from a laser cavity with spherical aberration. Laser Photonics Rev. 17 , 2300369 (2023)..

Kogelnik, H. & Li, T. Laser beams and resonators. Appl. Opt. 5 , 1550–1567 (1966)..

Fox, A. G. & Li, T. Resonant modes in a maser interferometer. Bell Syst. Tech. J. 40 , 453 (1961)..

Laabs, H. & Ozygus, B. Excitation of Hermite Gaussian modes in end-pumped solid-state lasers via off-axis pumping. Opt. Laser Technol. 28 , 213–214 (1996)..

Chen, Y. F. et al. Generation of Hermite-Gaussian modes in fiber-coupled laser-diode end-pumped lasers. IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 33 , 1025–1031 (1997)..

Shen, Y. et al. Wavelength-tunable Hermite–Gaussian modes and an orbital-angular-momentum-tunable vortex beam in a dual-off-axis pumped Yb: CALGO laser. Opt. Lett. 43 , 291–294 (2018)..

Gutiérrez-Cuevas, R. & Alonso, M. A. Modal Majorana sphere and hidden symmetries of structured-Gaussian beams. Phys. Rev. Lett. 125 , 123903 (2019)..

Gutiérrez-Cuevas, R. et al. Generalized Gaussian beams in terms of Jones vectors. J. Opt. 21 , 084001 (2019)..

Li, C. Y. et al. Modal interface for structured light via liquid-crystal planar optics. Phys. Rev. Appl. 21 , 034021 (2024)..

Wu, H. J. et al. Observation of anomalous orbital angular momentum transfer in parametric nonlinearity. Phys. Rev. Lett. 130 , 153803 (2023)..

Cao, Z. et al. Talbot-like pattern evolution in complex structured light from a unitary transformation. Opt. Express 32 , 28025–28034 (2024)..

Yu, B. et al. Single-shot full characterization of the spatial wavefunction of light fields via stokes tomography. Appl. Sci. 14 , 2067 (2024)..

Giordmaine, J. A. & Miller, R. C. Tunable coherent parametric oscillation in LiNbO 3 at optical frequencies. Phys. Rev. Lett. 14 , 973 (1965)..

Pask, H. M. The design and operation of solid-state Raman lasers. Prog. Quantum Electron. 27 , 3–56 (2003)..

Merklein, M. et al. 100 years of Brillouin scattering: historical and future perspectives. Appl. Phys. Rev. 9 , 041306 (2022)..

Mei, H. et al. Amplification o f light pulses with orbital angular momentum in nitrogen ions lasing. Opt. Express 31 , 31912–31921 (2023)..

Shen, B. et al. High-order vortex air lasing generated by plasma amplification. Laser Photonics Rev. 19 , 2401276 (2025)..

Liu, H. et al. Generation of femtosecond polygonal optical vortices from a mode-locked quasi-frequency-degenerate laser. Light Sci. Appl. 14 , 222 (2025)..

Shen, Y. et al. Polygonal vortex beams. IEEE Photonics J. 10 , 1–16 (2018)..

Sugic, D. et al. Particle-like topologies in light. Nat. Commun. 12 , 6785 (2021)..

Zhong, R. Y. et al. Gouy-phase-mediated propagation variations and revivals of transverse structure in vectorially structured light. Phys. Rev. A 103 , 053520 (2021)..

Gao, S. et al. Paraxial skyrmionic beams. Phys. Rev. A 104 , 049901 (2021)..

Shen, Y. et al. Free-space topological optical textures: tutoria l. Adv. Opt. Photonics 17 , 295–374 (2025)..

Wang, J. et al. Vectorial light–matter interaction: exploring spatially structured complex light fields. AVS Quantum Sci. 2 , 031702 (2020)..

浏览量

Downloads

CSCD

文章被引用时，请邮件提醒。

Submit

工具集

关联资源

Integrated optomechanical ultrasonic sensors with nano-Pascal-level sensitivity

Gapless tunable intense terahertz pulse generation in strained diamond

Multifunctional ligand engineering for pure-blue halide perovskite nanocrystal LEDs

Boltzmann luminescent nanothermometry: mechanistic criteria and predictive design of thermally coupled levels

Deformation engineering enables precise dispersion control in an optical microcavity