TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OPPORTUNITY: Tunable-Index Nanoscale OAM Beams via van der Waals Materials

Structured light beams with tunable wavelength and orbital angular momentum (OAM) are enabling new frontiers in optical communication and quantum information science. However, conventional methods for generating such beams rely on spatial light modulators or bulk nonlinear optical crystals, which limit scalability and integration. This new platform leverages van der Waals materials to tune both the wavelength, OAM, and radial structure of vortex beams, using nonlinear optical processes such as sum frequency generation, difference frequency generation, four-wave mixing, and higher-order harmonic generation, all over exceptionally broad spectral ranges due to the elimination of phase matching constraints. The result is an ultracompact material platform that supports robust structured-light m