Structured Light & Singular Optics

4.0 credits

Whenever light interacts with media, nature will give us “structured light”, spatially varying in properties such as its amplitude, phase, polarization, and more. This spatial variation of properties enables the occurrence of optical singularities – locations at which the electric field vanishes, the intensity is (theoretically) infinite, or the phase/polarization is undefined. These singularities form the skeleton of structured light, which stays structurally stable under perturbations, carrying its deformable surroundings. In this course, we will learn about the underlying fundamentals of structured light and singular optics as well as its pioneering applications, including advanced imaging, optical trapping, material processing, quantum cryptography, and more. Topics include: scalar fields and singularities; genericity, topological charge, index/sign rules; optical angular momenta and energy flow; vectorial