Electromagnetic Vortices

Menglin L. N. Chen

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

The University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong, P.R. China

Yuqi Chen

College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering

Zhejiang University

Hangzhou, P.R. China

Xiaoming Chen

School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong

University, Xi’an, P.R. China

Tie Jun Cui

State Key Laboratory of Millimeter‐Waves, School of Information Science and Engineering, Southeast University

Nanjing, P.R. China

Alessio D’Errico

Department of Physics

University of Ottawa

Ottawa, ON, Canada

Mina Hanifeh

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

University of California

Irvine, CA, USA

Wei Hong

State Key Laboratory of Millimeter‐Waves

School of Information Science and Engineering

Southeast University

Nanjing, P.R. China

Naoki Honma

Faculty of Science and Engineering

Iwate University

Morioka, Iwate, Japan

Nanzhe Hu

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Hao Huang

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Zhi Hao Jiang

State Key Laboratory of Millimeter‐Waves, School of Information Science and Engineering, Southeast University

Nanjing, P.R. China

Li Jun Jiang

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong, P.R. China

Lei Kang

Department of Electrical Engineering

The Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA, USA

Ebrahim Karimi

Department of Physics

University of Ottawa

Ottawa, ON, Canada

Natalia M. Litchinitser

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University

Durham NC, USA

Cong Liu

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Kentaro Murata

Faculty of Science and Engineering

Iwate University

Morioka, Iwate, Japan

Kai Pang

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Anastasios Papathanasopoulos

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Cheng‐Wei Qiu

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore

Singapore

Yahya Rahmat‐Samii

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Yongxiong Ren

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Wei E. I. Sha

Key Laboratory of Micro‐nano Electronic Devices and Smart Systems of Zhejiang Province, College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University

Hangzhou, P.R. China

Haoqian Song

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Hao Song

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Xinzhou Su

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Fabrizio Tamburini

ZKM Karlsruhe, Lorenzstraße, Berlin, Germany

Bo Thidé

Swedish Institute of Space PhysicsÅngström Laboratory, Uppsala, Sweden

Moshe Tur

School of Electrical Engineering

Tel Aviv University

Ramat Aviv, Israel

Zhixia Wang

College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering

Zhejiang University, Hangzhou

P.R. China

Xinyue Wang

College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University

Hangzhou, P.R. China

Douglas H. Werner

Department of Electrical Engineering

The Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA, USA

Alan E. Willner

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Guodong Xie

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Xiaoyan Y. Z. Xiong

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong, P.R. China

Xiaowen Xiong

College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University

Hangzhou, P.R. China

Wei Xue

School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University

Xi’an, P.R. China

Yuanjie Yang

School of Physics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Chengdu, P.R. China

Jianjia Yi

School of Information and Communications Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University

Xi’an, P.R. China

Jia Yuan Yin

School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Xidian University

Xi’an, P.R. China

Runzhou Zhang

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Xianmin Zhang

College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University

Hangzhou, P.R. China

Ningbo Research Institute, Zhejiang University

Ningbo, P.R. China

Zhe Zhao

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Jiayu Zheng

College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering

Zhejiang University

Hangzhou, P.R. China

Shilie Zheng

College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University

Hangzhou, P.R. China

Ningbo Research Institute

Zhejiang University, Ningbo, P.R. China

Huibin Zhou

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Zelin Zhu

College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, P.R. China

The content of this book is focused on the cutting‐edge research area of electromagnetic vortices including fundamental theory, wave phenomena, and also the applications of vortex waves in a variety of disciplines. Akin to vortices that exist widely throughout nature, ranging from a fluid vortex with a central flow singularity to the countless spiral galaxies in the universe, vortices also exist in electromagnetic and optical fields which are manifested in what are called vortex waves. Such vortex waves refer to a class of electromagnetic waves carrying nonvanishing orbital angular momentum (OAM), which are characterized by their helical phase‐front and annular‐shaped intensity distribution, indicating a singularity at the beam center. This family of waves encompasses unconventional waveforms with complex structures such as vector vortex beams, higher‐order Bessel beams, etc. Their structured wavefronts endow them with unprecedented wave behavior that breaks conventional bounds enabling new physical properties, revealing a subtle connection between macroscopic physical optics and microscopic quantum optics. These unique properties have further led to the creation of revolutionary new ways of exploiting wave‐matter interactions, especially when coupled with interdisciplinary research areas such as nanophotonics, metamaterials, communications, nonlinear optics, quantum information, etc. Ever since the introduction of the concept of electromagnetic vortices in 1989 by Coullet et al. and the first demonstration of OAM in paraxially propagating vortex beams by Allen et al., there has been a dramatically increasing number of scientists and engineers enthusiastically devoting their efforts to this field of exploration. In particular, over the past few years, the field of electromagnetic vortices has witnessed tremendous advancements in many of its associated subareas, which have jointly enabled devices and even systems for a wide variety of applications including astrophysical observation, particle manipulation, nonlinear optics, microlasers, fiber optics, wireless communications, and even quantum cryptography, just to name a few. As such, electromagnetic vortices hold great promise for revolutionizing developments in many research areas and triggering key disruptive technologies that have the potential to change the daily lives of human beings.