8 research outputs found
Spin and orbital Hall effects for diffracting optical beams in gradient-index media
We examine the evolution of paraxial beams carrying intrinsic spin and
orbital angular momenta (AM) in gradient-index media. A parabolic-type equation
is derived which describes the beam diffraction in curvilinear coordinates
accompanying the central ray. The center of gravity of the beam experiences
transverse AM-dependent deflections -- the spin and orbital Hall effects. The
spin Hall effect generates a transverse translation of the beam as a whole, in
precise agreement with recent geometrical optics predictions. At the same time,
the orbital Hall effect is significantly affected by the diffraction in the
inhomogeneous medium and is accompanied by changes in the intrinsic orbital AM
and deformations of the beam.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.