Vortex beam nanofocusing and optical skyrmion generation via hyperbolic metamaterials

Abstract

While spin angular momentum is limited to ±ℏ, orbital angular momentum (OAM) is, in principle, unbounded, enabling tailored optical transition rules in quantum systems. However, the large optical size of vortex beams hinders their coupling to nanoscale platforms such as quantum emitters. To address this challenge, we experimentally demonstrate the subdiffraction focusing of an OAM-carrying beam using a hypergrating, a flat meta-structure based on a multilayered hyperbolic composite. We show that our structure generates and guides high-wave vector modes to a deeply subwavelength spot and experimentally demonstrate the focus of an OAM-carrying beam on a spot size of ∼ λ/3. We also show how the proposed platform facilitates the formation of an optical skyrmion with spin textures as small as λ/250, opening new avenues for controlling light–matter interactions.