Fig. 5: Comparison of skyrmion tubes in monochromatic and pulsed light.
Skyrmion tubes of monochromatic light (a1–f1) and pulsed light (a2–f2). (a1, a2) Intensity distributions of the skyrmion tube for monochromatic light along the z-axis and pulsed light along the y-axis, respectively. b1, b2 Out-of-plane Stokes orientation s3 distributions of the monochromatic and pulsed skyrmion tubes, respectively. c1, c2 Skyrmion number of the monochromatic and pulsed skyrmion tubes along the z- and y-axis, respectively. d1–f1 Helicity variations of the monochromatic skyrmion tube along the z-axis, caused by the Gouy phase shift during propagation. d2–f2 Helicity of the pulsed skyrmion tube along the y-axis, which remains nearly unchanged
