Transformation from asymmetric spin splitting to symmetric spin splitting with phase compensation in photonic spin Hall effect

Generally, when an arbitrary polarized light beam is reflected or refracted from an isotropic interface, the spin splitting in photonic spin Hall effect (SHE) shows asymmetry properties. In this paper, we theoretically propose a phase compensation scheme to achieve the transformation from asymmetric spin splitting to symmetric spin splitting in photonic SHE. We experimentally acquire the spin splitting after phase compensation in the case of a 45 degrees linear polarized Gaussian light beam totally internally reflected from a prism-air interface. Particularly, whether or not phase compensation, the transverse shift of total barycenter of reflected field [i.e., the Imbert-Fedorov (IF) shift] does not change. These findings can solve this problem that asymmetric spin splitting cannot be observed by weak measurements. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

In this study, a phase compensation scheme is proposed and experimentally verified to achieve symmetric spin splitting in photonic spin Hall effect. The research reveals that the transverse shift of the total barycenter in the reflected field remains unchanged, whether or not phase compensation is applied.