Coriolis Effect in Optics: Unified Geometric Phase and Spin-Hall Effect

We examine the spin-orbit coupling effects that appear when a wave carrying intrinsic angular momentum interacts with a medium. The Berry phase is shown to be a manifestation of the Coriolis effect in a non-inertial reference frame attached to the wave. In the most general case, when both the direction of propagation and the state of the wave are varied, the phase is given by a simple expression that unifies the spin redirection Berry phase and the Pancharatnam--Berry phase. The theory is supported by the experiment demonstrating the spin-orbit coupling of electromagnetic waves via a surface plasmon nano-structure. The measurements verify the unified geometric phase, demonstrated by the observed polarization-dependent shift (spin-Hall effect) of the waves.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Geometrodynamics of spinning light

The semiclassical evolution of spinning particles has recently been re-examined in condensed matter physics, high-energy physics, and optics, resulting in the prediction of the intrinsic spin Hall effect associated with the Berry phase. A fundamental origin of this effect is related to the spin-orbit interaction and topological monopoles. Here, we report a unified theory and a direct observation of two mutual phenomena: a spin-dependent deflection (the spin Hall effect) of photons and the precession of the Stokes vector along the coiled ray trajectory of classical geometrical optics. Our measurements are in perfect agreement with theoretical predictions, thereby verifying the dynamical action of the topological Berry-phase monopole in the evolution of light. These results may have promising applications in nano-optics and can be immediately extrapolated to the evolution of massless particles in a variety of physical systems

ESDA2008-59026 ENHANCED COHERENCY OF THERMAL EMISSION FROM SIC BY COUPLED RESONANT CAVITY STRUCTURE

ABSTRACT Surface waves have been shown to play a key role in spontaneous thermal emission in the near-field as well as the coherence and the polarization properties of the nonradiative field. The near-field coherence of the delocalized nonradiative surface waves can be transferred into radiative fields by introducing a shallow grating on the surface. We show that the coherency of the thermal radiation can be enhanced by an order of magnitude compared with the coherency imposed by the delocalized surface waves. The enhanced coherency is due to coherent coupling between resonant cavities obtained by surface standing waves, where each cavity supports localized field that is attributed to coupled surface waves. We realized coupled resonant cavity structure on amorphous SiO 2 and crystalline SiC, both support surface phonon-polaritons, to demonstrate extraordinary coherent thermal emission with a high quality factor of 600 and a spatial coherence length of 760λ