Structured light and induced vorticity in superconductors I: Linearly polarized light

Abstract: We propose an approach to use linearly polarized light to imprint superconducting vortices. Within the framework of the generalized time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations we demonstrate the induction of the coherent vortex pairs that are moving in phase with electormagnetic wave oscillations. The overall vorticity of the superconductor remain zero throughout the cycle. Our results uncover rich multiscale dynamics of SC vorticity and suggest new optical applications for various types of structured light. In departure from classical laser printing, the laser printing proposed here can be viewed as quantum print where we induce quantum excitations in the SC liquid.