Structured light and induced vorticity in superconductors II: Quantum Print with Laguerre-Gaussian beam

Abstract

Challenge to control the quantum states of matter via light have been at the forefront of modern research on driven quantum matter. We explore the imprinting effects of structured light on superconductors, demonstrating how the quantum numbers of light-specifically spin angular momentum, orbital angular momentum, and radial order-can be transferred to the superconducting order parameter and control vortex dynamics. Using Laguerre-Gaussian beams, we show that by tuning the quantum numbers and the amplitude of the electric field, it is possible to manipulate a variety of vortex behaviors, including breathing vortex pairs, braiding vortex pairs, vortex droplets, supervortices, and swirling 2D vortex rings. More complex structure of vortex-clusters, such as vortex-flake structures, and standing wave motions, also emerge under specific quantum numbers. These results demonstrate the ability to control SC vortex motion and phase structures through structured light, offering potential applications in quantum fluids and optical control of superconducting states. Our findings present a diagram that links light's quantum numbers to the resulting SC vortex behaviors, highlighting the capacity of light to transfer its symmetry onto superconducting condensates. We point that this approach represents the extension of the printing to quantum printing by light in a coherent state of electrons.

Figures (22)

• Figure 1: (a) A toy model of quantum printing (Partially AI-generated image AI). Within the framework of generalized time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau model (gTDGL), the $s$, $l$, $p$ present the quantum numbers corresponding to the SAM, OAM, and radial order of structured light, respectively. The input and output papers in the printer symbolize the SC thin film before and after imprinting of quantum numbers, respectively. (b) A schematic diagram illustrating the profile of the order parameter and vorticity of the current density induced by structured light. The light propagates normally onto SC thin film. The section of the SC thin film shows the time evolution of light source under different angular momentum (AM) configurations: 0-AM (no AM), SAM ($s=1, l=0$), OAM ($s=0, l=1$), SAM+OAM (combining $s=1$ and $l=1$). The colored region represents the polarization as color bar, with the color intensity. The black dashed circle with arrows inside depicts snapshots of the electric field at different time, $\omega_{EM}t$, where arrows indicate the field direction. The color on the SC surface represents the order parameter as a color map. The figures below the gray arrows show the order parameters affected by structured light and the corresponding vorticity of the supercurrent.
• Figure 2: Different profiles showing the effects of optically induced supercurrents and vortices. These profiles include out-of-plane magnetic field $B_z$, supercurrent density $J_0$, vorticity of supercurrent density $\omega_{nu,s}$, phase of order parameter $\theta_s$, and amplitude of order parameter $\abs{\psi}$, from left to right. The arrows indicate the transfer order from $B_z$ of light through $J_0$, normalized $\omega_{nu,s}$, $\theta_s$, to $\abs{\psi}$. Snapshot of (a) shows the LG$_{00,0}$ induced supercurrent before vortices generation at $t=10\tau_{GL}$, while (b) shows the state after vortices generation at $t=90\tau_{GL}$. The notations $V_+$ and $V_-$ represent vortex and antivortex, respectively.
• Figure 3: (Full caption on the next second page.)
• Figure 4: (Full caption on the next page.)
• Figure 5: Time-trace of vortices and snapshot of order parameters induced by light sources: (a) LP LG$_{00,0}$, (b) CP LG$_{00,1}$, (c) LP LG$_{01,0}$, (d) CP LG$_{01,-1}$, (e) CP LG$_{01,1}$, (f) CP LG$_{02,1}$, (g) CP LG$_{03,1}$. We illustrate the time-varying 2D traces of vortices. Each time-frame of 2D vortex traces are displayed along vertical slices, like the orientation of the "projection of $xy$-plane", while the horizontal direction corresponds to the evolution in time. The red and blue curves depict the trace of vortices and antivortices, respectively. The inserts of $\abs{\psi}$, $\theta_s$, and $\omega_{\nu,s}$ are the snapshot of amplitude of order parameter, phase, and vorticity of the supercurrent, respectively. The full motion records are available in the Supplementary materials supp1supp2supp3.