Seminário Extra: Spin Hall Effect in Photonic Materials

Spin-orbit interactions (SOIs) of light encompass a broad range of effects that result from the coupling of polarization (i.e., spin) and angular (i.e., orbital) degrees of freedom of light. Because of their fundamental origin and wide-ranging nature, SOIs of light have become inherent in a broad range of active areas, ranging from nano-optics, singular optics, photonics, metamaterials, or quantum optics when dealing with SOIs at the single-photon level. Among a large number of rich exotic phenomena, SOIs exhibit the so-called Spin Hall Effect (SHE) of light, a remarkable spin-dependent transverse shift of light intensity.

In this talk, I will present an overview of novel directions for applications of SHE of light in photonic materials. As a photonic analogue of the SHE in electronic systems, photonic SHE warrants unique potential for exploration of the physical properties of novel photonic materials and nanostructures, such as in determining the material properties of magnetic and metallic thin films, or the optical properties of atomically thin two dimensional metamaterials, with unprecedented spatial and angular resolution; a feature than can be achieved by combining SHE with quantum weak measurements and quantum weak amplification techniques.

Moreover, photonic SHE opens up a new pathway for controlling spin states of photons and for developing next-generation photonic spin Hall devices as fundamental constituents of the fast growing field of photonic precision metrology and sensing, and future spin-based photonics applications.

Selected References:

[1] Spin-Hall effect and circular birefringence of a uniaxial crystal plate, KY Bliokh, CT Samlan, C Prajapati, G Puentes, NK Viswanathan, F Nori, Optica 3 (10), 1039-1047 (2016)

[2] Enhanced spin Hall effect of light by transmission in a polymer, O Takayama, and G Puentes, Optics letters 43 (6), 1343-1346 (2018).

[3] Photonic spin Hall effect in hyperbolic metamaterials at visible wavelengths

O Takayama, J Sukham, R Malureanu, AV Lavrinenko, and G Puentes, Optics letters 43 (19), 4602-4605 (2018). Selected for Editor’s Pick 2018.

[4] Spin-Orbit Interaction of Light in Metamaterials and Metasurfaces, G. Puentes, invited review Quantum Reports (2019).

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Departamento de Fisica – ICEx – UFMG