title: Optics. Observation of optical polarization Möbius strips.
abstract: Möbius strips are three-dimensional geometrical structures, fascinating for their peculiar property of being surfaces with only one "side"—or, more technically, being "nonorientable" surfaces. Despite being easily realized artificially, the spontaneous emergence of these structures in nature is exceedingly rare. Here, we generate Möbius strips of optical polarization by tightly focusing the light beam emerging from a q-plate, a liquid crystal device that modifies the polarization of light in a space-variant manner. Using a recently developed method for the three-dimensional nanotomography of optical vector fields, we fully reconstruct the light polarization structure in the focal region, confirming the appearance of Möbius polarization structures. The preparation of such structured light modes may be important for complex light beam engineering and optical micro- and nanofabrication.
authors: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Guenther-Scharowsky-Strasse 1, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany. Institute of Optics, Information and Photonics, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Staudtstrasse 7/B2, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Bauer
authors: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Guenther-Scharowsky-Strasse 1, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany. Institute of Optics, Information and Photonics, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Staudtstrasse 7/B2, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany. Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Banzer
authors: Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada. ekarimi@uottawa.ca.
authors: Ebrahim
authors: E
authors: Karimi
authors: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Guenther-Scharowsky-Strasse 1, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany. Institute of Optics, Information and Photonics, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Staudtstrasse 7/B2, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors: Sergej
authors: S
authors: Orlov
authors: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant'Angelo, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli, Italy. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR)-SPIN, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant'Angelo, via Cintia, Napoli, Italy.
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Rubano
authors: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant'Angelo, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli, Italy. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR)-SPIN, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant'Angelo, via Cintia, Napoli, Italy.
authors: Lorenzo
authors: L
authors: Marrucci
authors: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant'Angelo, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli, Italy.
authors: Enrico
authors: E
authors: Santamato
authors: Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada. Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA.
authors: Robert W
authors: RW
authors: Boyd
authors: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Guenther-Scharowsky-Strasse 1, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany. Institute of Optics, Information and Photonics, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Staudtstrasse 7/B2, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors: Gerd
authors: G
authors: Leuchs