Optimization of a plasmonic lens structure for maximum optical vortices induced on Weyl semimetal surface states

Abstract

Optical vortices have a topologically charged phase singularity and zero intensity distribution in the centre. Optical vortex creation is regarded as a significant means for information transmission for applications in quantum computing, encryption, optical communication, etc. In this study, using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation, we calculated the electric field intensity and phase distribution of 2D lattices of optical vortices generated from various polygonal plasmonic lens structures using surface states of a Weyl semimetal (MoTe₂). It was shown that a hexagonal lens is the best performing plasmonic lens. Further, we posited here a unified mathematical formulation for optical electrical field and phase distribution in the near field for any polygonal plasmonic lens. Our theoretical calculation corroborated well with FDTD results, validating the proposed generalized formula. Such plasmonic lens structures demonstrating scaling behavior offer great potential for designing next-generation optical memories.