Shaping optical spin flow topologies by the translation of tailored orbital phase flow

Abstract

Abstract Beneath being a well-established tool in optical manipulation for spinning and eventually sorting trapped objects, transverse energy flow (TEF) of light represents a versatile, illustrative and instructive approach to understand singular light fields and their properties. Up to now, these transverse flows were mainly investigated in its orbital part, for example, as in optical vortices, whereas the study of complex spin flow density (SFD) topologies has not yet reached the same mature state. Especially, the defined customization of energy flow and respective SFD fields has not yet been initiated. By the application of higher-order Laguerre– as well as Ince–Gaussian modes, being well-studied tools in optical manipulation, we demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge the development of sophisticated SFD configurations. We show shaping the flow field and controlling the type, number, spatial location and order of formed singular points in these TEFs. Our approach facilitates on-demand sculpting energy flow fields and their complex topologies for future applications in, for example, optical manipulation based on tailored polarization structures.