Structured light: controlling the intensity, phase, topological charge, trajectory and branching of optical beams and pulses in free space and material media

Abstract

The so-called non-diffracting waves, also known as localized waves, constitute a solid field of theoretical and experimental research. Currently, the development degree in this research field is so significant that the name "non-diffracting waves" has become too restrictive. It is no longer just a matter of obtaining diffraction-resistant beams and pulses, but also properties such as dispersion and attenuation resistance, which are considered and obtained theoretically and experimentally, in the same way, the spatio-temporal modeling of optical beams and pulses and even the control of polarization and orbital angular momentum has been carried out both in theory and in experiments.This new field that opens up, which can be named "structured localized waves", has many applications, such as in medicine, ultrasound images, optical tweezers, optical atom guidance, optical alignment, remote sensing, free space optical communications, nonlinear optics, quantum mechanics, etc.This proposal is at the frontier of knowledge of this important research field, focusing on the theoretical and experimental studies on the control of intensity, phase, topological charge (i.e., orbital angular momentum), polarization, trajectory and branching of beams and optical pulses in free space and material media. Possible applications in optical manipulation, remote sensing, optical communications and photonics will also be studied and evaluated.The work will be developed over a year and will count on the collaboration of important international and national research groups, namely: the group of Prof. Federico Capasso (one of the world's most renowned scientists in the fields of optics and photonics), from Harvard University, the group of Prof. Mo Mojahedi, from the University of Toronto, Prof. Ayman Abouraddy, from the University of Central Florida, the group of Prof. Marcos Gesualdi, from the Federal University of ABC, the group of Prof. Leonardo Ambrósio, from USP in São Carlos, and Prof. Kléber Zuza, from the Federal University of Ceará. (AU)