Researchers Create Skyrmion Light Structures on Metal Surface

[ralphtenno]

A team of physicists at the University of Stuttgart has successfully manipulated light interacting with a metallic surface to create entirely new optical structures known as “skyrmion bags.” Their findings, published in Nature Physics, add a significant development to the growing field of skyrmion research.

Led by Professor Harald Giessen at the university’s Fourth Physics Institute, the group demonstrated that light reflecting off a specially structured gold surface can take on skyrmion-like characteristics—vortex-shaped configurations that help scientists understand complex physical systems.

"Skyrmions have become a powerful tool to describe and explore fundamental physical phenomena," said Giessen. Although originally theoretical, skyrmions have now been observed in materials like magnetic solids and engineered surfaces. The Stuttgart team extended this concept into the realm of optics by creating and controlling skyrmion patterns in light itself.

To conduct the experiment, the researchers etched two twisted hexagonal patterns into a thin gold layer. Each hexagon generated a unique skyrmion light field, and when the two patterns were overlaid, they formed a “skyrmion bag”—a structure where multiple skyrmions are contained within a larger skyrmion boundary.

"We observed the superposition of these light fields and saw how skyrmion bags emerged," explained Julian Schwab, lead author of the study and a doctoral researcher in Giessen's lab. By changing the angle between the twisted light fields, the researchers were even able to control the number of skyrmions contained within each bag.

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This ability to shape light fields with such precision introduces optical configurations that do not naturally occur, opening new avenues for manipulating light. For theoretical insights, the Stuttgart team collaborated with researchers at the Technion in Haifa, while experimental validation involved a group from the University of Duisburg-Essen.

Though this work is primarily in the domain of fundamental physics, the unusual properties of these light-based skyrmions hint at future applications. Giessen suggests that if a suitable material is found, the concept could one day be applied to microscopy, allowing scientists to surpass current resolution limits imposed by the wavelength of light.

“This is a promising direction,” Giessen noted. “Skyrmion light fields could eventually lead to technologies that reshape the way we visualize the microscopic world.”