Cylindrical vector beams reveal radiationless anapole condition in a resonant state

Nonscattering optical anapole condition is corresponding to the excitation of radiationless field distributions in open resonators,which offers new degrees of freedom for tailoring light-matter interaction.Conventional mechanisms for achieving such a condition relies on sophisticated manipulation of electromagnetic multipolar moments of all orders to guarantee superpositions of suppressed moment strengths at the same wavelength.In contrast,here we report on the excitation of optical radiationless anapole hidden in a resonant state of a Si nanoparticle utilizing a tightly focused radially polarized(RP)beam.The coexistence of magnetic resonant state and anapole condition at the same wavelength further enables the triggering of resonant state by a tightly focused azimuthally polarized(AP)beam whose corresponding electric multipole coefficient could be zero.As a result,high contrast inter-transition between radiationless anapole condition and ideal magnetic resonant scattering can be achieved experimentally in visible spectrum.The proposed mechanism is general which can be realized in different types of nanostructures.Our results showcase that the unique combination of structured light and structured Mie resonances could provide new degrees of freedom for tailoring light-matter interaction,which might shed new light on functional meta-optics.

Segmented cylindrical vector beams for massively-encoded optical data storage

The possibility to achieve unprecedented multiplexing of light-matter interaction in nanoscale is of virtue importance from both fundamental science and practical application points of view. Cylindrical vector beams(CVBs) manifested as polarization vortices represent a robust and emerging degree of freedom for information multiplexing with increased capacities. Here, we propose and demonstrate massivelyencoded optical data storage(ODS) by harnessing spatially variant electric fields mediated by segmented CVBs. By tight focusing polychromatic segmented CVBs to plasmonic nanoparticle aggregates, recordhigh multiplexing channels of ODS through different combinations of polarization states and wavelengths have been experimentally demonstrated with a low error rate. Our result not only casts new perceptions for tailoring light-matter interactions utilizing structured light but also enables a new prospective for ultra-high capacity optical memory with minimalist system complexity by combining CVB’s compatibility with fiber optics.