Shuoshuo Zhang ¹ ², Zhangyu Zhou ², Qianyi Wei ², Zhongsheng Man ³, Changjun Min ², Wending Zhang ¹, Yuquan Zhang ², Ting Mei ¹, Xiaocong Yuan ²
¹ Key Laboratory of Light Field Manipulation and Information Acquisition, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, School of Physical Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710129, China
中国 西安 西北工业大学物理科学与技术学院 光场调控与信息感知工业和信息化部重点实验室
² Nanophotonics Research Center, Institute of Microscale Optoelectronics & State Key Laboratory of Radio Frequency Heterogeneous, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
中国 深圳 深圳大学微纳光电子学研究院 射频异质异构集成全国重点实验室 纳米光子学研究中心
³ School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255000, China
中国 淄博 山东理工大学物理与光电工程学院
Recently, perfect spatiotemporal optical vortices (PSTOVs) have attracted significant attention due to their topological-charge-independent radius and their ability to carry transverse orbital angular momentum. However, existing studies on PSTOVs remain largely restricted to the simplest annular intensity profiles, limiting their versatility in tailoring light-matter interactions. Extending PSTOVs toward programmable distributions is therefore highly desirable for both fundamental studies and practical applications.
To fill this research gap, we propose the concept of generalized perfect spatiotemporal optical vortices (GPSTOVs), whose intensity profiles can be flexibly engineered while preserving their intrinsic "perfect" properties. Unlike previous complex-amplitude modulation approaches, GPSTOV pulses are generated via a pure-phase modulation scheme, enabling higher modulation efficiency and improved energy utilization.
By encoding a shape-controllable digital axicon and a vortex phase in the spatiotemporal frequency domain, we experimentally realize a family of polygonal GPSTOV pulses with tunable geometries. The measured spatiotemporal profiles agree well with theoretical predictions. Our results expand the scope of PSTOV research and hold promises for applications in optical communications, particle manipulation, and other fields requiring precise spatiotemporal control of ultrafast light pulses.
