Space-Time Optical Hopfion Crystals
Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 083801 – Published 21 August, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/hh5s-cprt
Abstract
Hopfions—higher-dimensional topological quasiparticles with sophisticated 3D knotted spin textures discovered in condensed matter and photonic systems—show promise in high-density data storage and transfer. Here, we present crystalline structures of hopfions lying in space-time constructed by spatiotemporally structured light. Practical methodologies using bichromatic structured light beams or dipole arrays to assemble 1D and higher dimensional hopfion lattices are proposed, and a technique for tailoring topological orders is elucidated. Optical hopfion crystals constitute a new platform for high-dimensional topological information transfer.
