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Quantum printing and induced vorticity in superconductors II: Laguerre-Gaussian beam

Tien-Tien Yeh1,2,*, Hennadii Yerzhakov2, Logan Bishop-Van Horn3, Srinivas Raghu3, and Alexander Balatsky1,2,†

  • *Contact author: ttyeh0212@gmail.com
  • †Contact author: balatsky@hotmail.com
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043112 – Published 28 October, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/dqv7-w2w4

Abstract

The challenge of controlling the quantum states of matter via light has been at the forefront of modern research on driven quantum matter. We explore the imprinting effects of structured light on superconductors, demonstrating how the quantum numbers of light—specifically spin angular momentum, orbital angular momentum, and radial order—can be transferred to the superconducting (SC) order parameter and control vortex dynamics. Using Laguerre-Gaussian beams, we show that by tuning the quantum numbers and the amplitude of the electric field, it is possible to manipulate a variety of vortex dynamics, including breathing vortex pairs, braiding vortex pairs, vortex droplets, and swirling two-dimensional vortex rings. More complex structures of vortex clusters, such as vortex flake structures, and standing wave motions, also emerge under specific quantum numbers. These results demonstrate the ability to control SC vortex motion and phase structures through structured light, offering potential applications in quantum fluids and optical control of superconducting states. Our findings present a diagram that links light's quantum numbers to the resulting SC vortex dynamics, highlighting the capacity of light to transfer its symmetry onto superconducting condensates. We point out that this approach represents the extension of printing to quantum printing by light in a coherent state of electrons.

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Quantum printing and induced vorticity in superconductors I: Linearly polarized light

Tien-Tien Yeh, Hennadii Yerzhakov, Logan Bishop-Van Horn, Srinivas Raghu, and Alexander Balatsky
Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043111 (2025)

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043112– Published 28 October, 2025
  • Received 16 December 2024
  • Accepted 7 September 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by Bibsam.

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