Enhancing photonic spin Hall effect via long-range surface plasmon resonance

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Plasmonics
• Optics

Background:

• The photonic spin Hall effect (SHE) describes the spin-dependent transverse displacement of photons.
• Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) offers a way to manipulate light-matter interactions.
• Enhancing the photonic SHE is crucial for developing advanced optical devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To significantly enhance the photonic spin Hall effect.
• To investigate the role of layer thicknesses in an insulator-metal-insulator structure supporting LRSPR.
• To achieve a record transverse separation for spin-polarized photons.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing long-range surface plasmon resonance (LRSPR) in an insulator-metal-insulator structure.
• Systematically varying the thicknesses of the metal and dielectric layers.
• Employing a 632.8 nm incident Gaussian beam for excitation and measurement.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated significant enhancement of the photonic spin Hall effect.
• Identified optimal thicknesses for the metal and dielectric layers to support LRSPR.
• Achieved a maximum transverse separation of 7.85 μm, a substantial increase over previous reports.

Conclusions:

• LRSPR provides a powerful mechanism for enhancing the photonic spin Hall effect.
• The insulator-metal-insulator structure is effective for achieving large spin-dependent photon separation.
• This work paves the way for novel photonic devices with enhanced spin-based functionalities.