article · Physical Review Applied
Skyrmions are topologically protected quasiparticles that hold significant promise for high-density information storage. While first investigated in condensed-matter physics, optical implementations have often demanded bulky, complex setups that only yield restricted topological configurations. Research now demonstrates that compact photonic gradient-index media can reliably generate and control a broader family of topological quasiparticles beyond standard skyrmions. This includes higher-order entities such as multiskyrmions and multimerons with progressively intricate topological arrangements. To accurately categorise these formations, several new topological parameters are introduced alongside the traditional skyrmion number: centrality, radiality, vorticity, and polarity. By achieving these complex textures within a compact system, the approach supports integrated and programmable designs that could influence future data processing architectures across photonics and materials science.
Conventional data storage and computing architectures are rapidly approaching physical scaling limits. Topologically protected light patterns offer robust pathways to store and process far higher densities of information. By showing how to create diverse, sophisticated topological states within compact optical components, this work advances the feasibility of using light-based quasiparticles in miniature data storage and logic platforms.
The work targets potential applications in topological informatics, logic devices, and high-density information storage. The primary prospective users are developers of integrated photonic circuits and advanced computing hardware. Because the research demonstrates control of these quasiparticles in a compact optical medium rather than deploying a packaged device, it represents early-stage foundational technology requiring further hardware integration before industrial adoption.
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Skyrmions are topologically protected quasiparticles, originally studied in condensed-matter systems and recently in photonics, with great potential in high-density information storage. Despite the recent attention, most optical solutions require complex systems yet produce limited topologies. Here we demonstrate an extended family of quasiparticles beyond normal skyrmions that are controlled in compact photonic gradient-index media, extending to higher-order members such as multiskyrmions and multimerons, with increasingly complex topologies. We introduce multiple topological numbers (centrality, radiality, vorticity, and polarity) in addition to the skyrmion number to describe these photonic quasiparticles. Our compact creation system lends itself to integrated and programmable solutions of complex particle textures, with potential impacts on both photonic and condensed-matter systems for revolutionizing topological informatics and logic devices.
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DOI: 10.1103/physrevapplied.21.024025
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