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Polarization-controlled chiral transport
Hang Zhu1, Jian Wang1, Andrea Alù2,3
1Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics and School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China.
Light, Science & Applications
|February 9, 2025
Summary
Researchers developed a novel method for controlling chiral transport using incident polarization diversity. This breakthrough enables reconfigurable on-chip devices with higher information capacity for optical communications and sensing applications.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and optical engineering
- Condensed matter physics
- Quantum information science
Background:
- Chiral transport, a handedness-selective phenomenon, is crucial for fundamental research and applications in optical communications and sensing.
- Current on-chip chiral transport devices are static, lacking the ability to modulate output modes based on input, which restricts functionality and data capacity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel approach for controlling chiral transport using incident polarization diversity.
- To enable polarization-dependent chiral transport for reconfigurable on-chip devices.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing incident polarization diversity to steer the Hamiltonian evolution path.
- Designing and engineering double-coupled waveguides to map the evolution paths of TE and TM polarizations.
- Experimentally demonstrating controllable modal outputs based on polarization.
Main Results:
- Achieved polarization-dependent chiral transport by controlling Hamiltonian evolution paths.
- Demonstrated that different polarizations result in distinct, controllable modal outputs.
- Successfully combined Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output (MIMO) and polarization diversity concepts with chiral transport.
Conclusions:
- Challenged the notion of fixed modal outputs in chiral transport.
- Paved the way for developing on-chip reconfigurable and high-capacity handedness-selective devices.
- Opened new avenues for advanced optical communication and sensing technologies.
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