Classical emergence of intrinsic spin-orbit interaction of light at the nanoscale

[EN] Traditionally, in macroscopic geometrical optics intrinsic polarization and spatial degrees of freedom of light can be treated independently. However, at the subwavelength scale these properties appear to be coupled together, giving rise to the spin-orbit interaction (SOI) of light. In this wor...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Vázquez-Lozano, Juan Enrique, Martínez, Alejandro|||0000-0001-5448-0140
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repositorio:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/126100
Acceso en línea:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/126100
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Optical spin-orbit interaction
Factorizability (or separability) condition
Spin and orbital angular momentum
Near-field optics
Spherical vector waves
Nanophotonics
TEORIA DE LA SEÑAL Y COMUNICACIONES
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] Traditionally, in macroscopic geometrical optics intrinsic polarization and spatial degrees of freedom of light can be treated independently. However, at the subwavelength scale these properties appear to be coupled together, giving rise to the spin-orbit interaction (SOI) of light. In this work we address theoretically the classical emergence of the optical SOI at the nanoscale. By means of a full-vector analysis involving spherical vector waves we show that the spin-orbit factorizability condition, accounting for the mutual influence between the amplitude (spin) and phase (orbit), is fulfilled only in the far-field limit. On the other side, in the near-field region, an additional relative phase introduces an extra term that hinders the factorization and reveals an intricate dynamical behavior according to the SOI regime. As a result, we find a suitable theoretical framework able to capture analytically the main features of intrinsic SOI of light. Besides allowing for a better understanding into the mechanism leading to its classical emergence at the nanoscale, our approach may be useful to design experimental setups that enhance the response of SOI-based effects.