Quasi-Bessel Stokes skyrmions with enhanced topological robustness in free-space and turbulent propagation
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Atmospheric turbulence fundamentally limits the transmission of optical information by degrading the spatial structure of structured light. Optical skyrmions, with nontrivial vectorial topology, offer a promising route to robustness, yet preserving their Stokes-vector structure under realistic perturbations remains challenging. We construct quasi-Bessel (QB) Stokes optical skyrmions using a finite-width annular-band angular spectrum, where orthogonal polarizations share identical radial spectra while their topological-charge difference encodes azimuthal winding. We compare their free-space and turbulent propagation with Bessel-Gaussian (BG) and Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) counterparts. Within the quasi-nondiffracting range, radial-spectrum matching approximately preserves the complex-amplitude ratio between the two circularly polarized components, thereby stabilizing the skyrmion number and Stokes texture while suppressing passive evolution induced by differential Gouy-phase accumulation. In turbulent conditions, despite intensity and polarization degradation, the Stokes texture and skyrmion number remain robust. Notably, compared with LG skyrmions, low-order QB skyrmions better preserve both intensity and skyrmion number. For higher orders, however, the intensity remains better maintained, while the reduced skyrmion-number robustness is consistent with the increased sensitivity of radial topological wrapping to scale perturbations. Our work provides guidance for a route toward turbulence-resilient topological light for robust optical information transmission.
Source: Optics Express
DOI: 10.1364/oe.614953
Institution: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,270
OpenAlex ID: W7221020106