07 June 2024 | Yijie Shen, Nikitas Papasimakis, Nikolay I. Zheludev
The paper introduces non-diffracting supertoroidal pulses (NDSTPs), which are space-time nonseparable electromagnetic waves with robust skyrmionic and vortex field configurations that persist over arbitrary propagation distances. These pulses exhibit unique topological properties, including fractal-like singularities, energy backflow, and skyrmionic patterns, which do not survive in free space. The field structure of NDSTPs is similar to the von Kármán vortex street, a pattern of swirling vortices in fluid dynamics. The authors demonstrate that NDSTPs can be generated using photonic crystal slabs or transformation optics, and they show that these pulses can be used for long-distance information transfer and energy transport applications. The paper also explores the optical analogy of Kármán vortex streets, where the vortex arrays in NDSTPs form a periodic staggered pattern, reminiscent of fluid dynamics. The robust topological structure of NDSTPs could have implications for telecommunications, remote sensing, and LiDAR, as well as for spectroscopy and metrology.The paper introduces non-diffracting supertoroidal pulses (NDSTPs), which are space-time nonseparable electromagnetic waves with robust skyrmionic and vortex field configurations that persist over arbitrary propagation distances. These pulses exhibit unique topological properties, including fractal-like singularities, energy backflow, and skyrmionic patterns, which do not survive in free space. The field structure of NDSTPs is similar to the von Kármán vortex street, a pattern of swirling vortices in fluid dynamics. The authors demonstrate that NDSTPs can be generated using photonic crystal slabs or transformation optics, and they show that these pulses can be used for long-distance information transfer and energy transport applications. The paper also explores the optical analogy of Kármán vortex streets, where the vortex arrays in NDSTPs form a periodic staggered pattern, reminiscent of fluid dynamics. The robust topological structure of NDSTPs could have implications for telecommunications, remote sensing, and LiDAR, as well as for spectroscopy and metrology.