Geometry-Driven Lattice of Photonic Spin-Meron Tubes in Free Space
Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 126601 – Published 25 March, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rsyn-vysg
Abstract
We theoretically demonstrate the first photonic spin-meron tube lattice in free space using spin-angular momentum vectors. Square-block diffraction creates -symmetric beams with phase steps. Nonparaxial spin-orbit coupling then forms finite-length meron tubes (), whose length is dependent on diffractive element dimensions. Extending the geometry driven formalism, we show that geometry of triangular block yields spin-skyrmion tubes while effective moiré bilayer results in spin twistronics in free space without the need of strong near-field confinement. Stratton-Chu theory and full-vectorial finite-difference time-domain calculations both support this material-agnostic geometric driven approach as a platform to explore the symmetry-driven free-space topology.