Spin Hall Effect in Photonic Materials (Special Issue)

GRACIANA PUENTES

Quantum Reports

MDPI

Año: 2019

2624-960X

Spin-orbit interactions (SOIs) of light encompass a broad range of effects that result from the coupling of polarization (i.e., spin) and angular (i.e., orbital) degrees of freedom of light. Because of their fundamental origin and wide-ranging nature, SOIs of light have become inherent in a broad range of active areas, ranging from nano-optics, singular optics, photonics, metamaterials, or quantum optics when dealing with SOIs at the single-photon level. Among a large number of rich exotic phenomena, SOIs exhibit the so-called spin Hall effect (SHE) of light, a remarkable spin-dependent transverse shift of light intensity.The aim of this Special Issue is to explore novel directions and applications for the SHE of light in photonic materials. As a photonic analogue of the SHE in electronic systems, the photonic SHE warrants unique potential for exploration of the physical properties of novel photonic materials and nanostructures, such as in determining the material properties of magnetic and metallic thin films, or the optical properties of atomically thin two-dimensional metamaterials, with unprecedented spatial and angular resolution?a feature than can be achieved by combining SHE with quantum weak measurements and quantum weak amplification techniques.Moreover, photonic SHE opens up a new pathway for controlling spin states of photons and for developing next-generation photonic spin Hall devices as fundamental constituents of the fast-growing field of photonic precision metrology and sensing, and future spin-based photonics applications. The Special Issue welcomes contributions from a broad range of interdisciplinary fields, ranging from photonics devices, to metamaterials, quantum weak measurements, orbital angular momentum of light, or spin-based photonics. to mention but a few examples.