Impact of Polarization Phase of Incident Light on In-Plane Spin Splitting of Reflected Beam

Abstract

In this paper, a physical model is established to reveal the relationship between polarization phase of incident light and in-plane spin splitting (IPSS) of reflected beam, and the impact of polarization phase on the IPSS is systematically investigated. Three interesting features of the effect of polarization phase on IPSS were discovered. Furthermore, it is found that the IPSS can be effectively enhanced and suppressed by adjusting the polarization phase near ±π/2. The enhanced IPSS shift can almost reach its upper limit (that is, half of the beam waist) and the suppressed IPSS shift can be reduced to zero. In addition, it is also found that the spin cumulative direction of spin components can be reversed adjusting the polarization phase at ±π/2. These findings not only provide a deeper insight into photonic spin Hall effect, but also open a path for the photon manipulation, precision metrology and the manufacture of photonic spin switching devices.

Keywords

• Photonic spin Hall effect
• in-plane spin splitting
• polarization phase