Photonic spin-orbit coupling induced by deep-subwavelength structured light

X Zhang, G Liu, Y Hu, H Lin, Z Zeng, X Zhang, Z Li… - Physical Review A, 2024 - APS
X Zhang, G Liu, Y Hu, H Lin, Z Zeng, X Zhang, Z Li, Z Chen, S Fu
Physical Review A, 2024APS
We demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally beam-dependent photonic spin-orbit
coupling in a two-wave mixing process described by an equivalent of the Pauli equation in
quantum mechanics. The considered structured light in the system is comprising a
superposition of two orthogonal spin-orbit-coupled states defined as spin-up and-down
equivalents. The spin-orbit coupling is manifested by prominent pseudospin precession as
well as spin-transport-induced orbital angular momentum generation in a photonic crystal …
We demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally beam-dependent photonic spin-orbit coupling in a two-wave mixing process described by an equivalent of the Pauli equation in quantum mechanics. The considered structured light in the system is comprising a superposition of two orthogonal spin-orbit-coupled states defined as spin-up and -down equivalents. The spin-orbit coupling is manifested by prominent pseudospin precession as well as spin-transport-induced orbital angular momentum generation in a photonic crystal film of wavelength thickness. The coupling effect is significantly enhanced by using a deep-subwavelength carrier envelope, different from previous studies which depend on materials. The beam-dependent coupling effect can find intriguing applications; for instance, it is used in precisely measuring variation of light with spatial resolution up to 15 nm.
American Physical Society