arXiv subjects

Stephen M Morris

Publications and source records attributed to Stephen M Morris.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Drop-on-demand printed negative dielectric anisotropy liquid crystal droplets for adaptive complex beam manipulation and assessment

Adaptive manipulation of vectorial optical fields are important for optical metrology, imaging, and structured light related applications, yet existing approaches often rely on bulky or sequentially operated systems. Here we demonstrate an inkjet-printed negative dielectric anisotropy nematic liquid crystal droplet platform that unifies adaptive complex beam generation and full vectorial optical field sensing within a single printed architecture. For complex beam generation, voltage-driven director reconfiguration in the droplets produces tunable birefringence and wavelength-dependent polarization textures, including skyrmionic like optical fields. For adaptive full vectorial optical field sensing, the same droplet array enables spectral and polarization retrieval through wavelength-dependent intensity patterns and division-of-wavefront polarimetry, while also functioning as a microlens array for Shack Hartmann wavefront sensing to reconstruct phase. These results establish negative dielectric anisotropy liquid crystal droplets as a scalable soft-matter photonic system for adaptive beam manipulation and multidimensional optical field characterization.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Multiplexed vector beam conversion via complex structured matter

Structured light, in which the amplitude, phase, and polarization of an optical field are deliberately tailored in space and time, has enabled unprecedented control over optical fields, paving the way for diverse applications across photonics and optical engineering. However, the prevailing design philosophy, which predominantly focuses on converting a single fixed input into a single desired output, relies on tunability to achieve time-division multiplexing rather than intrinsic design, and is fundamentally incompatible with wavelength-division multiplexing. Here, we propose a general framework for designing structured matter capable of achieving multiple input-output relations simultaneously, thereby enabling passive devices to realize both time-division and wavelength-division multiplexing. Using Stokes skyrmions, which have recently gained attention for their topological properties and promising applications in modern optical communication and computing, as an example, we demonstrate that a simple retarder-diattenuator-retarder cascade can be designed to simultaneously satisfy three arbitrary input-output relations, enabling diverse functionalities within a single passive element. This approach enables complex and multiplexed manipulation of topological numbers, paving the way for high-dimensional on-chip photonic computing based on optical skyrmions.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Topological Protection of Optical Skyrmions through Complex Media

Optical Skyrmions have many important properties that make them ideal units for high-density data applications, including the ability to carry digital information through a discrete topological number and the independence of spatially varying polarization to other dimensions. More importantly, the topological nature of the optical Skyrmion heuristically suggests a strong degree of robustness to perturbations, which is crucial for reliably carrying information in noisy environments. However, the study of the topological robustness of optical Skyrmions is still in its infancy. Here, we quantify this robustness precisely by proving that the topological nature of the Skyrmion arises from its structure on the boundary and, by duality, is therefore resilient to complex perturbations provided they respect the relevant boundary conditions of the unperturbed Skyrmion. We then present experimental evidence validating this robustness in the context of paraxial Skyrmion beams against different polarization aberrations. Our work provides a framework for handling various perturbations of Skyrmion fields and offers guarantees of robustness in a general sense. This, in turn, has implications for applications of the optical Skyrmion where their topological nature is exploited explicitly, and, in particular, provides an underpinning for the use of Skyrmions in optical communications and photonic computing.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

A reconfigurable arbitrary retarder array as complex structured matter

Tuneable retarder arrays, such as spatially patterned liquid crystal devices, have given rise to impressive photonic functionality, fuelling diverse applications ranging from microscopy and holography to encryption and communications. Presently these solutions are limited by the controllable degrees of freedom of structured matter, hindering applications that demand photonic systems with high flexibility and reconfigurable topologies. Here we demonstrate a compound modulator that implements a synthetic tuneable arbitrary retarder array as virtual pixels derived by cascading low functionality tuneable devices, realising full dynamic control of its arbitrary elliptical axis geometry, retardance value, and induced phase. Our approach offers unprecedented functionality that is user-defined and possesses high flexibility, allowing our modulator to act as a new beam generator, analyser, and corrector, opening an exciting path to tuneable topologies of light and matter.

physics.optics↗