Longitudinal field controls vector vortex beams in anisotropic epsilon-near-zero metamaterials
Abstract Structured light plays an important role in metrology, optical trapping and manipulation, communications, quantum technologies and nonlinear optics. Here, we demonstrate an alternative approach for the manipulation of vector beams carrying longitudinal field components using metamaterials w...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58088-8 |
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| author | Vittorio Aita Diane J. Roth Anastasiia Zaleska Alexey V. Krasavin Luke H. Nicholls Mykyta Shevchenko Francisco J. Rodríguez-Fortuño Anatoly V. Zayats |
| author_facet | Vittorio Aita Diane J. Roth Anastasiia Zaleska Alexey V. Krasavin Luke H. Nicholls Mykyta Shevchenko Francisco J. Rodríguez-Fortuño Anatoly V. Zayats |
| author_sort | Vittorio Aita |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Structured light plays an important role in metrology, optical trapping and manipulation, communications, quantum technologies and nonlinear optics. Here, we demonstrate an alternative approach for the manipulation of vector beams carrying longitudinal field components using metamaterials with extreme anisotropy. Implementing vectorial spectroscopy, we show that the propagation of complex beams with inhomogeneous polarization is strongly affected by the interplay of the metamaterial anisotropy with the transverse and longitudinal field structure of the beam. This phenomenon is especially pronounced in the epsilon-near-zero regime, exclusively realised for light polarized along the metamaterial optical axis, strongly influencing the interaction of longitudinal fields with the metamaterial. The requirements on the balance between the transverse and longitudinal fields to maintain a polarization singularity at the beam axis allow control of the beam modal content, filtering diffraction effects and tailoring spatial polarization distributions. The understanding of the interaction of vector beams with metamaterials opens new opportunities for applications in microscopy, information encoding, biochemical sensing and quantum technologies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e30b421af6844c54a915262932aa7bc4 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-e30b421af6844c54a915262932aa7bc42025-08-20T02:28:41ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-04-0116111110.1038/s41467-025-58088-8Longitudinal field controls vector vortex beams in anisotropic epsilon-near-zero metamaterialsVittorio Aita0Diane J. Roth1Anastasiia Zaleska2Alexey V. Krasavin3Luke H. Nicholls4Mykyta Shevchenko5Francisco J. Rodríguez-Fortuño6Anatoly V. Zayats7Department of Physics and London Centre for Nanotechnology, King’s College LondonDepartment of Physics and London Centre for Nanotechnology, King’s College LondonDepartment of Physics and London Centre for Nanotechnology, King’s College LondonDepartment of Physics and London Centre for Nanotechnology, King’s College LondonDepartment of Physics and London Centre for Nanotechnology, King’s College LondonDepartment of Physics and London Centre for Nanotechnology, King’s College LondonDepartment of Physics and London Centre for Nanotechnology, King’s College LondonDepartment of Physics and London Centre for Nanotechnology, King’s College LondonAbstract Structured light plays an important role in metrology, optical trapping and manipulation, communications, quantum technologies and nonlinear optics. Here, we demonstrate an alternative approach for the manipulation of vector beams carrying longitudinal field components using metamaterials with extreme anisotropy. Implementing vectorial spectroscopy, we show that the propagation of complex beams with inhomogeneous polarization is strongly affected by the interplay of the metamaterial anisotropy with the transverse and longitudinal field structure of the beam. This phenomenon is especially pronounced in the epsilon-near-zero regime, exclusively realised for light polarized along the metamaterial optical axis, strongly influencing the interaction of longitudinal fields with the metamaterial. The requirements on the balance between the transverse and longitudinal fields to maintain a polarization singularity at the beam axis allow control of the beam modal content, filtering diffraction effects and tailoring spatial polarization distributions. The understanding of the interaction of vector beams with metamaterials opens new opportunities for applications in microscopy, information encoding, biochemical sensing and quantum technologies.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58088-8 |
| spellingShingle | Vittorio Aita Diane J. Roth Anastasiia Zaleska Alexey V. Krasavin Luke H. Nicholls Mykyta Shevchenko Francisco J. Rodríguez-Fortuño Anatoly V. Zayats Longitudinal field controls vector vortex beams in anisotropic epsilon-near-zero metamaterials Nature Communications |
| title | Longitudinal field controls vector vortex beams in anisotropic epsilon-near-zero metamaterials |
| title_full | Longitudinal field controls vector vortex beams in anisotropic epsilon-near-zero metamaterials |
| title_fullStr | Longitudinal field controls vector vortex beams in anisotropic epsilon-near-zero metamaterials |
| title_full_unstemmed | Longitudinal field controls vector vortex beams in anisotropic epsilon-near-zero metamaterials |
| title_short | Longitudinal field controls vector vortex beams in anisotropic epsilon-near-zero metamaterials |
| title_sort | longitudinal field controls vector vortex beams in anisotropic epsilon near zero metamaterials |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58088-8 |
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