Topology of plazmon-polariton vortices on adaptive mirror
TM-modes of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) can be excited on the surface of the metal layer of an adaptive mirror at falling of a bulk electromagnetic wave. A part of the energy of the electromagnetic wave is involved in excitation of the SPP modes. The E-modes of the SPP are excited at reflection of the TM-modes from the boundaries of deformed areas on the adaptive mirror surface. The superposition of TM-modes and E-modes leads to the formation of SPP vortices at singular points of the interference field. The topology of the SPP vortices changes depending on the curvature of the boundaries of deformed areas on the adaptive mirror surface. In this case, the SPP vortices appear and disappear in the components of the Poynting vector, and the screw dislocations emerge at the wavefront at the singular points of the field. Emergence of SPP vortices on the metal surface of a mirror should be considered when calculating the wavefront correction parameters in the adaptive systems.