Absorber of topologically structured light
Absorber of topologically structured light
Polarization- and wavelength-sensitive absorbers for homogeneous electromagnetic waves are crucial in photovoltaics, imaging, and telecommunications. Here, we report on an absorber selective to the topological structure of light. An electromagnetic beam or pulse containing polarization singularities can be fully dissipated by the absorber, while plane waves are rejected regardless of their polarization. The absorber comprises a conical mirror coaxial with the incident propagating beam, which the mirror converts into a standing wave defined by the geometrical Pancharatnam–Berry phase accumulated upon reflection on the mirror. If a “nanowire” absorber is placed along the axis of the cone, singularly-polarized light can create an antinode of the standing wave at the absorber and nearly perfect dissipation of light’s energy is achievable regardless of the wavelength. The selective absorber of topologically structured light is of interest for energy harvesting, detection, filtering, and telecommunications applications.
radial polarization, azimuthal polarization, coherent absorption
Vignjevic, Luka
6f7746ac-a509-4f17-b923-66c6d8b2a5d7
Plum, Eric
50761a26-2982-40df-9153-7aecc4226eb5
Papasimakis, Nikitas
f416bfa9-544c-4a3e-8a2d-bc1c11133a51
Zheludev, Nikolay I.
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
Vignjevic, Luka
6f7746ac-a509-4f17-b923-66c6d8b2a5d7
Plum, Eric
50761a26-2982-40df-9153-7aecc4226eb5
Papasimakis, Nikitas
f416bfa9-544c-4a3e-8a2d-bc1c11133a51
Zheludev, Nikolay I.
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
Vignjevic, Luka, Plum, Eric, Papasimakis, Nikitas and Zheludev, Nikolay I.
(2025)
Absorber of topologically structured light.
Optics Express.
(In Press)
Abstract
Polarization- and wavelength-sensitive absorbers for homogeneous electromagnetic waves are crucial in photovoltaics, imaging, and telecommunications. Here, we report on an absorber selective to the topological structure of light. An electromagnetic beam or pulse containing polarization singularities can be fully dissipated by the absorber, while plane waves are rejected regardless of their polarization. The absorber comprises a conical mirror coaxial with the incident propagating beam, which the mirror converts into a standing wave defined by the geometrical Pancharatnam–Berry phase accumulated upon reflection on the mirror. If a “nanowire” absorber is placed along the axis of the cone, singularly-polarized light can create an antinode of the standing wave at the absorber and nearly perfect dissipation of light’s energy is achievable regardless of the wavelength. The selective absorber of topologically structured light is of interest for energy harvesting, detection, filtering, and telecommunications applications.
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Accepted/In Press date: 13 November 2025
Keywords:
radial polarization, azimuthal polarization, coherent absorption
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 507506
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/507506
ISSN: 1094-4087
PURE UUID: 1b62d461-fee6-4d40-b732-7e5ed5a8483c
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Date deposited: 10 Dec 2025 17:52
Last modified: 11 Dec 2025 02:42
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