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Storage and retrieval of optical skyrmions with topological characteristics

Jinwen Wang1,*,†, Xin Yang1,*, Yun Chen2, Zhujun Ye3, Xinji Zeng1, Yongkun Zhou1, Shuya Zhang1, Claire Marie Cisowski4, Chengyuan Wang1 et al.

Katsuya Inoue3, Yijie Shen5,6,3,‡, Sonja Franke-Arnold4,§, and Hong Gao1,∥

  • 1Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of Quantum Information and Quantum Optoelectronic Devices, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
  • 2School of Science, Huzhou University, Zhejiang 313000, China
  • 3International Institute for Sustainability with Knotted Chiral Meta Matter (WPI-SKCM2), Hiroshima University, 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan
  • 4School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
  • 5Centre for Disruptive Photonic Technologies, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371, Singapore
  • 6School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Republic of Singapore

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: jinwenwang@xjtu.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: yijie.shen@ntu.edu.sg
  • §Contact author: sonja.franke-arnold@glasgow.ac.uk
  • ∥Contact author: honggao@xjtu.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. A 113, 043528 – Published 30 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/44mz-k83h

Abstract

Optical skyrmions are topological structures of light whose defining property, the skyrmion number, is robust against perturbations. This makes them attractive for applications in quantum information storage, where resilience to decoherence is paramount. However, their preservation during coherent storage remains unexplored. We report the first experimental demonstration of storing and retrieving optical skyrmions in a cold Rb87 vapor using a dual-path electromagnetically induced transparency memory. Crucially, we show that the skyrmion number remains invariant for storage times up to several microseconds, even when subjected to imbalanced loss between the two paths and substantial perturbations in control beam power. Our work demonstrates the survival of a nontrivial topological invariant in a quantum memory, marking a significant step towards topologically protected photonic technologies.

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Phys. Rev. A 113, 043528– Published 30 April, 2026
  • Received 16 July 2025
  • Revised 24 March 2026
  • Accepted 3 April 2026
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