Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of live Drosophila melanogaster using Magic Angle Spinning
Published on: April 15, 2010
Magnetic spin-orbit interaction of light
Mengjia Wang1, Hongyi Zhang1, Tatiana Kovalevich1
1FEMTO-ST Institute, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, UMR CNRS 6174 15B Av. des Montboucons, 25030 Besancon Cedex, France.
Abstract:
We study the directional excitation of optical surface waves controlled by the magnetic field of light. We theoretically predict that a spinning magnetic dipole develops a tunable unidirectional coupling of light to transverse electric (TE) polarized Bloch surface waves (BSWs). Experimentally, we show that the helicity of light projected onto a subwavelength groove milled into the top layer of a 1D photonic crystal (PC) controls the power distribution between two TE-polarized BSWs excited on both sides of the groove. Such a phenomenon is shown to be solely mediated by the helicity of the magnetic optical field, thus revealing a magnetic spin-orbit interaction of light. Remarkably, this magnetic optical effect is clearly observed via a near-field coupler governed by an electric dipole moment: it is of the same order of magnitude as the electric optical effects involved in the coupling. This opens up new degrees of freedom for the manipulation of light and offers desirable and novel opportunities for the development of integrated optical functionalities.
Related Concept Videos
Electron Orbital Model
The first shell is closest to the nucleus, and it has only one subshell with a single spherical orbital called the...
Molecular Orbital Theory I
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human...
The Energies of Atomic Orbitals
Atomic Orbitals
Molecular Orbital Theory II

![Measuring the Spin-Lattice Relaxation Magnetic Field Dependence of Hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcloudfront.jove.com%2FCDNSource%2Fteasers%2F59399.jpg&w=3840&q=50)