https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202430911003
Paraxial and non-paraxial optical skyrmions
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
* e-mail: Joerg.Goette@glasgow.ac.uk
Published online: 31 October 2024
Vector light beams feature a spatially varying optical polarisation and can exhibit localised structures reminiscent of the skyrmions familiar from the study of magnetic media. We present a theory and experimental measurements of such skyrmions in both paraxial and non-paraxial optics. A key feature for our analysis is the transverse skyrmion field which determines the properties of the skyrmions and traces out field lines. In paraxial optics these field lines are lines of constant polarisation, but in non-paraxial optics, the fact the polarisation ellipses are no longer restricted to the transverse plane, makes it necessary to introduce several different skyrmion fields, each representing a different aspect of the three-dimensional optical polarisation.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2024
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
