Observation of Polarization Vortices in Momentum Space

Physical Review Letters
Yiwen ZhangJian Zi

Abstract

The vortex, a fundamental topological excitation featuring the in-plane winding of a vector field, is important in various areas such as fluid dynamics, liquid crystals, and superconductors. Although commonly existing in nature, vortices were observed exclusively in real space. Here, we experimentally observed momentum-space vortices as the winding of far-field polarization vectors in the first Brillouin zone of periodic plasmonic structures. Using homemade polarization-resolved momentum-space imaging spectroscopy, we mapped out the dispersion, lifetime, and polarization of all radiative states at the visible wavelengths. The momentum-space vortices were experimentally identified by their winding patterns in the polarization-resolved isofrequency contours and their diverging radiative quality factors. Such polarization vortices can exist robustly on any periodic systems of vectorial fields, while they are not captured by the existing topological band theory developed for scalar fields. Our work provides a new way for designing high-Q plasmonic resonances, generating vector beams, and studying topological photonics in the momentum space.

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Citations

Sep 13, 2019·Reports on Progress in Physics·Konstantin Y BliokhMark R Dennis
Aug 4, 2020·Physical Review Letters·Erchan YangShuang Zhang
Oct 2, 2019·Physical Review Letters·Wenzhe LiuJian Zi
Mar 14, 2020·Physical Review Letters·Tong WuXiangdong Zhang
May 6, 2019·Physical Review Letters·Weijin ChenWei Liu
Sep 19, 2020·Advanced Materials·Kwang-Yong JeongHong-Gyu Park
May 2, 2020·Physical Review Letters·Weimin YeJianlong Liu
Apr 13, 2019·Physical Review Letters·Daohong SongZhigang Chen
Aug 7, 2019·Physical Review Letters·Alexander CerjanMikael C Rechtsman
Feb 29, 2020·Science·Can HuangQinghai Song
Jan 11, 2020·Physical Review Letters·Zhuojun LiuJin Liu
Mar 29, 2020·Physical Review Letters·Cheng GuoShanhui Fan
Oct 28, 2020·Scientific Reports·Liangsheng LiHongcheng Yin
Mar 17, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Weijin ChenWei Liu
Apr 3, 2021·Physical Review Letters·Meng KangHongxing Xu
Apr 22, 2021·Chemical Communications : Chem Comm·Min-Soo HwangHong-Gyu Park
May 15, 2021·Optics Letters·Samyobrata MukherjeeLluis Torner
Jul 29, 2021·Light, Science & Applications·Tongyu LiJian Zi
Aug 7, 2021·Physical Review Letters·Zhiyuan CheJian Zi
Nov 30, 2021·Nano Letters·Seongheon KimYoung Chul Jun
Dec 23, 2021·Science Advances·Alexander CerjanMikael C Rechtsman

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