Researchers have created a swirl of light using a complex arrangement of lenses, lasers and mirrors. Vortexes are donut-shaped structures that typically form in water. Smokers can also make these ringed shapes with their mouths. Now, according to a study published in Nature Photonics, it is possible to create similar rings with light. This feat was achieved by a team of researchers from Shanghai University for Science and Technology, China.
Although the practicality of this concept has only recently emerged, the discovery was made in 2016. Scientists at the University of Maryland found that if given the right conditions, powerful lasers can act as their own lenses and self-reflect in a more focused and intense beam. , These self-focusing and very intense laser beams can create a vortex of energy that can resemble a smoke or water ring, also known as a toroidal vortex or just a vortex. Research led by Howard Milchberg called these rings of light “spatiotemporal optical vortices.”
Based on the findings of the 2016 study, Qiwen Xan and his team created a system to achieve the desired, practical results. Starting with a specially designed laser pulse, the team fabricated things like mirrors, lenses, and an indexed grating system. They also used reflective devices to characterize the properties of small liquid crystal screens.
A specially designed laser pulse was first sent into a long pipe-like vortex. As a result the light waves spin and bend around the surface of the pipe, due to the light energy. These curved waves were sent to another set of instruments and devices, after which light emerged from the ends connected in the form of a ring.
“We were wondering, is it possible to make such a thing out of light? And it so happened that we had the right tools at the right time,” said Zahn, as reported by New Scientist. These rings of light are no different from rings of smoke or rings of bubbles, Zahn said.
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