Advanced Techniques in Light and Acoustic Near-fields: Time and Spatial structuring

Optical and acoustic near-fields offer immense untapped potential for breakthroughs in metrology, imaging, nanorouting, sensing, contactless manipulation, and information technologies. ATLANTIS aims to uncover fundamental physical principles and novel applications in optical and acoustic near-fields, while advancing our understanding of wave behaviour at subwavelength scales.Far-field breakthroughs have emerged from challenging traditional assumptions, such as time-harmonicity, single wavevectors, full polarization, and static material backgrounds. ATLANTIS hypothesizes that extending this approach to near-fields will reveal unprecedented phenomena. Near-fields, with rich subwavelength physics often surpassing far-field limitations, promise emergent topologies, enhanced forces, and advanced sensing and metrology beyond far-field capabilities.ATLANTIS will break long-standing assumptions by investigating near-fields in spatially and temporally structured waves, partially polarized or incoherent fields, complex media (e.g., anisotropic or exotic materials), and time-varying material backgrounds. Key objectives include exploring surface-wave spatiotemporal vortices, characterizing knotted 3D polarization patterns in multi-coloured evanescent waves for chiral-enantiomer detection, investigating polarization singularities and symmetry dislocations in structured and unpolarised near-fields, and studying the response of near-field surface waves to time-varying and moving interfaces, among many others.ATLANTIS will combine fundamental research with proof-of-concept demonstrations in collaboration with experimental groups. By strategically targeting unexplored territories in nanophotonics and acoustics, ATLANTIS seeks to define the fundamental limits of near-field optical and acoustic systems, enabling impactful applications and driving new scientific discoveries.