Optical vortices are the electromagnetic analogue of fluid vortices studied in hydrodynamics. In both cases, the traveling wavefront, either made of light or fluid, is twisted like a corkscrew around its propagation axis—an analogy that also inspired the first proposition of the concept of optical vortices. Even though vortices are one of the most fundamental topological excitations in nature, they are rarely found in their electromagnetic form in natural systems, for the exception of energetic sources in astronomy, such as pulsars, quasars, and black holes. Mostly, optical vortices are artificially created in the laboratory by a rich variety of approaches. Here, we provide our Perspective on a technology that shook up optics in the last decade—metasurfaces, i.e., planar nanostructured metamaterials—with a specific focus on its use for molding and controlling optical vortices.
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5 October 2020
Research Article|
October 06 2020
Recent twists in twisted light: A Perspective on optical vortices from dielectric metasurfaces
Marco Piccardo;
Marco Piccardo
a)
Center for Nano Science and Technology, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
, Milan 20133, Italy
a)Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed: marco.piccardo@iit.it and antonio.ambrosio@iit.it
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Antonio Ambrosio
Antonio Ambrosio
a)
Center for Nano Science and Technology, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
, Milan 20133, Italy
a)Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed: marco.piccardo@iit.it and antonio.ambrosio@iit.it
Search for other works by this author on:
a)Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed: marco.piccardo@iit.it and antonio.ambrosio@iit.it
Appl. Phys. Lett. 117, 140501 (2020)
Article history
Received:
July 29 2020
Accepted:
September 23 2020
Citation
Marco Piccardo, Antonio Ambrosio; Recent twists in twisted light: A Perspective on optical vortices from dielectric metasurfaces. Appl. Phys. Lett. 5 October 2020; 117 (14): 140501. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0023338
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