Systems and methods for assembling electron spin and charge to possess properties of a magnetic monopole

Inventors: Hrvoje Petek (Pittsburgh, PA); Yanan Dai (New York, NY); Chen-Bin Huang (Hsinchu, TW); Atreyie Ghosh (Pittsburgh, PA); Zhikang Zhou (Pittsburgh, PA)

Assignees: University of Pittsburgh—Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education; The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York

G21K1/20 G21K1/06 G21K1/065

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12671007
App. No.: 18/556,743
Granted: Jun 30, 2026
Kind: B2

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Abstract

Described herein are systems and methods for assembling electron spin and charge to possess one or more properties of a magnetic monopole. Example systems can include a laser configured to generate a light beam with a first spin and/or a first orbital angular momentum, and a surface including a coupling structure having a geometrical charge. When exposed to the light beam, the surface is configured to enable excitations of surface plasmon polariton field waves at metal-dielectric interfaces of the coupling structure to generate a plasmonic field. The surface can be configured to focus the plasmonic field to form a plasmonic vortex, in which plasmonic spin-orbit coupling between a total spin and a total orbital angular momentum forms a topological spin texture that is homotopic to that of a magnetic monopole.

Claims (32)

1 . A system for assembling electron spin and charge to possess one or more properties of a magnetic monopole, the system comprising:

a laser configured to generate a light beam with a first spin and/or a first orbital angular momentum; and

a surface comprising a coupling structure having a geometrical charge, wherein, when exposed to the light beam, the surface is configured to:

(i) enable excitations of surface plasmon polariton field waves at metal-dielectric interfaces of the coupling structure to generate a plasmonic field, wherein the first spin, the first orbital angular momentum, and the coupling structure define a second orbital angular momentum of the waves and wherein the waves carry a second spin, and

(ii) focus the plasmonic field to form a plasmonic vortex, wherein plasmonic spin-orbit coupling between a total spin and a total orbital angular momentum forms a topological spin texture that is homotopic to that of a magnetic monopole, wherein the total spin comprises the first spin and the second spin and the total orbital angular momentum comprises the first orbital angular momentum and the second orbital angular momentum.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a topological charge of the plasmonic field is based on at least one of: (a) the first spin of the light beam, (b) the first orbital angular momentum of the light beam, or (c) the geometrical charge of the surface.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein a spin texture of the plasmonic field is defined by a sign and a magnitude of the topological charge of the plasmonic field.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the spin texture of the plasmonic field has an integer or half-integer topological charge.

5 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the topological spin texture is a hedgehog texture.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the surface comprises a plasmonic material.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the plasmonic material is a silver surface, a silver film, polycrystalline film, or specifically-oriented single crystalline silver surface.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the coupling structure comprises a surface plasmon phase-defining structure.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the surface plasmon phase-defining structure is a metamaterial.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the topological spin texture is configured to carry and/or process information for quantum computing.

11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is configured to be part of a microscopy system.

12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is configured to be part of a spectroscopy system.

13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the plasmonic vortex photoemits a propagating electron beam carrying orbital angular momentum.

14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the coupling structure comprises at least one nano-lithographically formed structure.

15 . A method for assembling electron spin and charge to possess one or more properties of a magnetic monopole, the method comprising:

generating a light beam with a first spin and/or a first orbital angular momentum; and

causing the light beam to interact with a surface, the surface comprising a coupling structure having a geometrical charge, and wherein, the surface is configured to:

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein a topological charge of the plasmonic field is based on at least one of: (a) the first spin of the light beam, (b) the first orbital angular momentum of the light beam, or (c) the geometrical charge of the surface.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein a spin texture of the plasmonic field is defined by a sign and a magnitude of the topological charge of the plasmonic field.

18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the surface comprises a plasmonic material.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the plasmonic material is a silver surface, a silver film, polycrystalline film, or specifically-oriented single crystalline silver surface.

20 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the coupling structure comprise a surface plasmon phase-defining structure.

21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the surface plasmon phase-defining structure is a metamaterial.

22 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the topological spin texture is configured to carry and/or process information for quantum computing.

23 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the plasmonic vortex photoemits a propagating electron beam carrying orbital angular momentum.

24 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the coupling structure comprises at least one nano-lithographically formed structure.