Physics

Controlled generation of high-harmonic spatiotemporal optical vortices

Titouan Gadeyne, Vartika Vishnoi, Thierry Ruchon

Featured August 19, 2026

AI-generated analysis — This is SciGrove's AI interpretation of the paper, not peer-reviewed content. Always refer to the original paper.

Simply

Scientists made special light pulses that twist in both space and time, then used a powerful laser trick to make these twisted pulses shine in extreme ultraviolet light, opening doors for new ways to study tiny particles.

In depth

The paper experimentally demonstrates the creation of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) spatiotemporal optical vortices (STOVs) for the first time, achieved by upconverting infrared STOV pulses using high-harmonic generation (HHG). They confirm that the topological charge of the XUV STOV scales linearly with the harmonic order and the driving pulse's charge,

l_{q} = q \times l

, and show control over their production by adjusting the nonlinear medium's position.

Key Takeaways

1
The first experimental demonstration of XUV spatiotemporal optical vortices generated via high-harmonic generation.
2
Confirmation of the predicted topological charge scaling for XUV STOVs, where the harmonic order $q$ multiplies the driving pulse's charge $l$ to yield $l_{q} = q \times l$ .
3
Demonstrated control over XUV STOV production and their spatiotemporal reshaping by precisely positioning the nonlinear medium relative to the laser focus.

Conceptual Flow

HIGH LEVEL

Methodology: Creating Twisted XUV Light

They took a special twisting infrared light and used a powerful laser to make it twist even faster into extreme ultraviolet light.

Infrared Twisted Light

Intense Laser Interaction

XUV Twisted Light

Results: Confirming the Twist Strength

They found that the twist in the new extreme ultraviolet light was a perfect multiple of the original twist, just as predicted.

XUV Twisted Light

Measure Twist Pattern

Twist Strength Confirmed

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