Experimental observation of a giant Goos-Hanchen shift in graphene using a beam splitter scanning method

A giant Goos-Hanchen (G-H) shift in graphene has been theoretically predicted by previous research. In this Letter, we present experimental measurements of the G-H shift in graphene, in a total internal reflection condition, using a new method we have named the beam splitter scanning method. Our results show that a focused light source undergoes significant lateral shift when the polarization of incident light changes from transverse magnetic (TM) to transverse electric (TE) mode, indicating a large G-H shift in graphene that is polarization-dependent. We also observed that the difference in the G-H shift for TM versus TE modes (S-TM-S-TE) increases with increasing thickness of graphene material. A maximum difference (S-TM-S-TE) of 31.16 mu m was observed, which is a significant result. Based on this research, the ability to engineer giant G-H shifts in graphene material has now been experimentally confirmed for the first time to the best of our knowledge. We expect that this result will lead to significant new and interesting applications of graphene in various types of optical sensors, and more. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America