Roadmap on singular optics and its applications

Abstract

Singular optics is a branch of modern electromagnetics and optics that investigates solutions to Maxwell’s equations that exhibit nontrivial topological features under various boundary conditions. These solutions give rise to light fields containing singularities, points or regions at which certain optical properties, such as phase or polarization, become undefined. Over time, singular optics has evolved into a unifying framework for understanding and engineering optical fields that possess phase, polarization, coherence, and spatiotemporal singularities, each characterized by quantized topological properties. Such structured light fields enable high-dimensional information encoding, robust light–matter interactions, and sensitive probing of complex media, thereby impacting optical communication, imaging, sensing, and materials processing. Parallel advances in theory, fabrication techniques, detection hardware, and computational methods have created a diverse and rapidly expanding landscape, underscoring the need for an integrated and forward-looking perspective. This roadmap synthesizes emerging applications of singular optics across multiple platforms, offering a concise overview of current developments and highlighting key physical concepts, new architectures, and transformative technologies that bridge subfields. In addition to reflecting the insights of leading contributors to these research directions, it also surveys selected recent advances, providing a concise overview of current trends and a foundation for shaping the future of singular optics and its applications.