Focused linearly-polarized-light scattering from a silver nanowire: Experimental characterization of the optical spin-Hall effect

Spin-orbit interactions (SOIs) are a set of subwavelength optical phenomena in which spin and spatial degrees of freedom of light are intrinsically coupled. One of the unique examples of a SOI, the spin-Hall effect of light (SHEL), has been an area of extensive research with potential applications in spin controlled photonic devices as well as emerging fields of spinoptics and spintronics. Here, we report our experimental study on SHEL due to forward scattering of focused linearly polarized Gaussian and Hermite-Gaussian (HG(10)) beams from a silver nanowire (AgNW). Spin-dependent antisymmetric intensity patterns are obtained when the polarization of the scattered light is analyzed. The corresponding spin-Hall signal is obtained by computing the far-field longitudinal spin density (s(3)). Furthermore, by comparing the s(3) distributions, significant enhancement of the spin-Hall signal is found for the HG(10) beam compared to the Gaussian beam. The investigation of the optical fields at the focal plane of the objective lens reveals the generation of longitudinally spinning fields as the primary reason for the effects. The experimental results are corroborated by three-dimensional numerical simulations. The results lead to a better understanding of SOIs and can have direct implications on chip-scale spin assisted photonic devices.

Automated summary

Spin-orbit interactions (SOIs) involve the coupling of spin and spatial degrees of freedom of light, with spin-Hall effect of light (SHEL) being a unique example. Experimental study of SHEL due to forward scattering of linearly polarized Gaussian and Hermite-Gaussian beams from a silver nanowire reveals spin-dependent antisymmetric intensity patterns. The results show significant enhancement of the spin-Hall signal for the Hermite-Gaussian beam compared to the Gaussian beam, with longitudinally spinning fields being the primary reason for the effects.