No Arabic abstract
We describe the spin-Hall effect of light (as well as the angular Goos-H{a}nchen effect) at a tilted linear-dichroic plate, such as a usual linear polarizer. Although the spin-Hall effect at a tilted polarizer was previous associated with the geometric spin-Hall effect of light (which was contrasted to the regular spin-Hall effect) [J. Korger et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 113902 (2014)], we show that the effect is actually an example of the regular spin-Hall effect that occurs at tilted anisotropic plates [K. Y. Bliokh et al., Optica 3, 1039 (2016)]. Moreover, our approach reveals the angular spin-Hall shift, which is absent in the geometric approach. We verify our theory experimentally using the method of quantum weak measurements.
Polarizers are key components in optical science and technology. Thus, understanding the action of a polarizer beyond oversimplifying approximations is crucial. In this work, we study the interaction of a polarizing interface with an obliquely incident wave experimentally. To this end, a set of Mueller matrices is acquired employing a novel procedure robust against experimental imperfections. We connect our observation to a geometric model, useful to predict the effect of polarizers on complex light fields.
The geometric Spin Hall Effect of Light (geometric SHEL) amounts to a polarization-dependent positional shift when a light beam is observed from a reference frame tilted with respect to its direction of propagation. Motivated by this intriguing phenomenon, the energy density of the light beam is decomposed into its Cartesian components in the tilted reference frame. This illustrates the occurrence of the characteristic shift and the significance of the effective response function of the detector. We introduce the concept of a tilted polarizing interface and provide a scheme for its experimental implementation. A light beam passing through such an interface undergoes a shift resembling the original geometric SHEL in a tilted reference frame. This displacement is generated at the polarizer and its occurrence does not depend on the properties of the detection system. We give explicit results for this novel type of geometric SHEL and show that at grazing incidence this effect amounts to a displacement of multiple wavelengths, a shift larger than the one introduced by Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov effects.
The spin Hall effect of light (SHEL) is the photonic analogue of spin Hall effects occurring for charge carriers in solid-state systems. Typical examples of this intriguing phenomenon occur when a light beam refracts at an air-glass interface, or when it is projected onto an oblique plane, the latter effect being known as geometric SHEL. It amounts to a polarization-dependent displacement perpendicular to the plane of incidence. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the geometric SHEL for a light beam transmitted across an oblique polarizer. We find that the spatial intensity distribution of the transmitted beam depends on the incident state of polarization and its centroid undergoes a positional displacement exceeding one wavelength. This novel phenomenon is virtually independent from the material properties of the polarizer and, thus, reveals universal features of spin-orbit coupling.
Optics naturally provides us with some powerful mathematical operations. Here we experimentally demonstrate that during reflection or refraction at a single optical planar interface, the optical computing of spatial differentiation can be realized by analyzing specific orthogonal polarization states of light. We show that the spatial differentiation is intrinsically due to the spin Hall effect of light and generally accompanies light reflection and refraction at any planar interface, regardless of material composition or incident angles. The proposed spin-optical method takes advantages of a simple and common structure to enable vectorial-field computation and perform edge detection for ultra-fast and energy-efficient image processing.
The optical spin Hall effect (OSHE) is a transport phenomenon of exciton polaritons in semiconductor microcavities, caused by the polaritonic spin-orbit interaction, that leads to the formation of spin textures. In the semiconductor cavity, the physical basis of the spin orbit coupling is an effective magnetic field caused by the splitting of transverse-electric and transverse-magnetic (TE-TM) modes. The spin textures can be observed in the near field (local spin distribution of polaritons), and as light polarization patterns in the more readily observable far field. For future applications in spinoptronic devices, a simple and robust control mechanism, which establishes a one-to-one correspondence between stationary incident light intensity and far-field polarization pattern, is needed. We present such a control scheme, which is made possible by a specific double-microcavity design.