Structuring light with flows.

ABSTRACT: Structured light has profoundly advanced optical manipulation, processing and imaging. However, its practical deployment in free space is limited by the constrained solutions of Helmholtz equation, which are bound to fixed propagation laws. Here, we reframe structured light as optical flows through a hydrodynamic description beyond the conventional field formalism, achieving flexible light structuring in free space via streamline engineering. Within this framework, we demonstrate the on-demand generation of diverse families of beams, with tailored propagation dynamics, including Gaussian, Bessel, Airy and vortex beams, and introduce specialized modes that overcome complex propagation challenges. To validate the designed energy streamlines, we perform optical tweezers experiments, treated a

SUBMITTER: Yan W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12921229 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature