As the size of an optical vortex knot, imprinted in a coherent light beam, is decreased, nonparaxial effects alter the structure of the knotted optical singularity. For knot structures approaching the scale of wavelength, longitudinal polarization effects become non-negligible, and the electric and magnetic fields differ, leading to intertwined knotted nodal structures in the transverse and longitudinal polarization components, which we call a knot bundle of polarization singularities. We analyze their structure using polynomial beam approximations and numerical diffraction theory. The analysis reveals features of spin-orbit effects and polarization topology in tightly focused geometry, and we propose an experiment to measure this phenomenon.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/JOSAA.35.001987 | DOI Listing |
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