Yachao Liu

Generation of cylindrical vector vortex beams by two cascaded metasurfaces

We present a simple and efficient method to generate any cylindrical vector vortex (CVV) beams based on two cascaded metasurfaces. The metasurface works as a space-variant Panchratnam-Berry phase element and can produce any desirable vortex phase and vector polarization. The first metasurface is used to switch the sign of topological charges associated with vortex, and the second metasurface is applied to manipulate the local polarization. This method allows us to simultaneously manipulate polarization and phase of the CVV beams.

Realization of polarization evolution on higher-order Poincaré sphere with metasurface

We present a simple and convenient method to yield cylindrical vector (CV) beams and realize its polarization evolution on higher-order Poincare sphere based on inhomogeneous birefringent metasurface. By means of local polarization transformation of the metasurface, it is possible to convert a light beam with homogeneous elliptical polarization into a vector beam with any desired polarization distribution. The Stokes parameters of the output light are measured to verify our scheme, which show well agreement with the theoretical prediction. Our method may provide a convenient way to generate CV beams, which is expected to have potential applications in encoding information and quantum computation.

Highly sensitive ethanol sensors based on {100}-bounded In2O3 nanocrystals due to face contact

The authors report the fabrication and characterization of ethanol sensors with extremely high sensitivity using In2O3 nanocrystals bounded by {100} facets as the sensing materials. The sensitivity of the sensors is about 10to1ppm ethanol, and increases nearly linearly up to about 200 as the ethanol concentration is raised to 100ppm. In the sensing film, the nanocrystals contact each other mainly through face contacts, most of which contribute to the gas sensing. This is the basis for the highly sensitive ethanol sensing.

Generation of arbitrary cylindrical vector beams on the higher order Poincaré sphere

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel interferometric approach to generate arbitrary cylindrical vector beams on the higher order Poincaré sphere (HOPS). Our scheme is implemented by collinear superposition of two orthogonal circular polarizations with opposite topological charges. By modifying the amplitude and phase factors of the two beams, respectively, any desired vector beams on the HOPS with high tunability can be acquired. Our research provides a convenient way to evolve the polarization states in any path on the high order Poincaré sphere.

Photonic spin Hall effect in dielectric metasurfaces with rotational symmetry breaking

Observation of photonic spin Hall effect (SHE) in dielectric metasurfaces whose local optical axes are spatially rotated is presented. The photonic SHE manifests itself as a spin-dependent splitting in momentum space due to the space-variant Pancharatnam-Berry phase. We show that no spin-dependent splitting occurs when keeping the rotational symmetry of local optical axes. However, the splitting can be observed when the rotational symmetry is broken. The spin-dependent splitting in position space can be observed in the far field due to the high transmission efficiency of dielectric metasurfaces. Moreover, it can be enhanced by increasing the rotation rate of local optical axes in the metasurfaces.

Recent advances in the spin Hall effect of light

The spin Hall effect (SHE) of light, as an analogue of the SHE in electronic systems, is a promising candidate for investigating the SHE in semiconductor spintronics/valleytronics, high-energy physics and condensed matter physics, owing to their similar topological nature in the spin-orbit interaction. The SHE of light exhibits unique potential for exploring the physical properties of nanostructures, such as determining the optical thickness, and the material properties of metallic and magnetic thin films and even atomically thin two-dimensional materials. More importantly, it opens a possible pathway for controlling the spin states of photons and developing next-generation photonic spin Hall devices as a fundamental constituent of the emerging spinoptics. In this review, based on the viewpoint of the geometric phase gradient, we give a detailed presentation of the recent advances in the SHE of light and its applications in precision metrology and future spin-based photonics.

Generation of Airy vortex and Airy vector beams based on the modulation of dynamic and geometric phases

We propose a novel method for the generation of Airy vortex and Airy vector beams based on the modulation of dynamic and geometric phases. In our scheme, the Airy beam is generated by the dynamic phase with a spatial light modulator, and the vortex phase or the vector polarization is modulated by the geometric phase with a dielectric metasurface. The modulation of the geometric phase provides an extra degree of freedom to manipulate the phase and the polarization of Airy beams. This scheme can be extended to generate any other types of optical beams with desirable phase and polarization.

Generation of arbitrary vector vortex beams on hybrid-order Poincaré sphere

We propose theoretically and verify experimentally a method of combining a q-plate and a spiral phase plate to generate arbitrary vector vortex beams on a hybrid-order Poincare sphere. We demonstrate that a vector vortex beam can be decomposed into a vector beam and a vortex, whereby the generation can be realized by sequentially using a q-plate and a spiral phase plate. The generated vector beam, vortex, and vector vortex beam are verified and show good agreement with the prediction. Another advantage that should be pointed out is that the spiral phase plate and q-plate are both fabricated on silica substrates, suggesting the potential possibility to integrate the two structures on a single plate. Based on a compact method of transmissive-type transformation, our scheme may have potential applications in future integrated optical devices.

Realization of tunable spin-dependent splitting in intrinsic photonic spin Hall effect

We report the realization of tunable spin-dependent splitting in intrinsic photonic spin Hall effect. By breaking the rotational symmetry of a cylindrical vector beam, the intrinsic vortex phases that the two spin components of the vector beam carries, which is similar to the geometric Pancharatnam-Berry phase, is no longer continuous in the azimuthal direction, and leads to observation of spin accumulation at the opposite edge of the beam. Due to the inherent nature of the phase and independency of light-matter interaction, the observed photonic spin Hall effect is intrinsic. Modulating the topological charge of the vector beam, the spin-dependent splitting can be enhanced and the direction of spin accumulation is switchable. Our findings may provide a possible route for generation and manipulation of spin-polarized photons, and enables spin-based photonics applications.

Photonic spin Hall effect in metasurfaces: a brief review

Abstract The photonic spin Hall effect (SHE) originates from the interplay between the photon-spin (polarization) and the trajectory (extrinsic orbital angular momentum) of light, i.e. the spin-orbit interaction. Metasurfaces, metamaterials with a reduced dimensionality, exhibit exceptional abilities for controlling the spin-orbit interaction and thereby manipulating the photonic SHE. Spin-redirection phase and Pancharatnam-Berry phase are the manifestations of spin-orbit interaction. The former is related to the evolution of the propagation direction and the latter to the manipulation with polarization state. Two distinct forms of splitting based on these two types of geometric phases can be induced by the photonic SHE in metasurfaces: the spin-dependent splitting in position space and in momentum space. The introduction of Pacharatnam-Berry phases, through space-variant polarization manipulations with metasurfaces, enables new approaches for fabricating the spin-Hall devices. Here, we present a short review of photonic SHE in metasurfaces and outline the opportunities in spin photonics.