Chinese Optics Letters, Volume. 23, Issue 10, (2025)
Optical skyrmion interaction mediated polarization topology [Early Posting]
Optical skyrmions, characterized by non-trivial optical vector textures, have significant potential in optical communication systems for information processing and storage. Here, we focus on the interaction between two optical skyrmions, examining how different types of skyrmions affect the overall topology. We show that skyrmions with opposite skyrmion numbers results in topological annihilation. Typical examples include interactions involving opposite vorticity or opposite polarity. Although the resulting states are topologically trivial, they exhibit distinct polarization textures, such as helical phase patterns and bimeron-like structures. Furthermore, interactions between skyrmions with the same skyrmion number but opposite vorticity and polarity give rise to bimeron topologies perturbed by trivial components. These findings advance our comprehension of optical topological quasiparticles, highlighting their potential significance in optical information transfer, storage, and communication.