Incident-Polarization-Independent Spin Hall Effect of Light Reaching Half Beam Waist

The spin Hall effect of light (SHEL), a spin-dependent transverse splitting of light at an optical interface, is intrinsically an incident-polarization-sensitive phenomenon. Recently, an approach to eliminate the polarization dependence by equalizing the reflection coefficients of two linear polarizations has been proposed, but is only valid when the beam waist is sufficiently larger than the wavelength. Here, it is demonstrated that an interface, at which the reflection coefficients of the two linear polarizations are the same and so are their derivatives with respect to the incident angle, supports the polarization-independent spin Hall shift, even when the beam waist is comparable to the wavelength. In addition, an isotropic-anisotropic interface that exhibits the polarization-independent spin Hall shift over the entire range of incident angles is presented. Monte-Carlo simulations prove that spin Hall shifts are degenerate under any polarization and reach a half of beam waist under unpolarized incidence. An application of the beam-waist-scale SHEL as a tunable beam-splitting device that is responsive to the incident polarization is suggested. The spin Hall shift that is independent of the incident polarization at any incident angle will facilitate a wide range of applications including practical spin-dependent devices and active beam splitters.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates that an interface with equal reflection coefficients and their derivatives with respect to the incident angle supports polarization-independent spin Hall shift, even when the beam waist is comparable to the wavelength. An isotropic-anisotropic interface exhibiting polarization-independent spin Hall shift over the entire range of incident angles is also presented. These findings are significant for practical spin-dependent devices and active beam splitters.