分类： 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： The practical applications of chiral discrimination are usually limited by the weak chiral response of enantiomers and the high complexity of detection methods. Here, we propose to use the C lines (i.e., lines of polarization singularities) emerged in light scattering by a metal sphere to detect small chiral particles. Using full-wave numerical simulations and analytical multipole expansions, we determined the absorption dissymmetry of deep-subwavelength helices (i.e., chiral particles) at different positions on the C lines. We find that the absorption dissymmetry can be much larger than that induced by circularly polarized plane wave excitation, and it can be attributed to the asymmetric absorption of the induced electric and magnetic dipoles. We also show that the absorption dissymmetry strongly depends on the anisotropy of the helices. The results may find applications in optical manipulations, optical sensing, and chiral quantum optics.
分类： 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： The central idea of metamaterials and metaoptics is that, besides their base materials, the geometry of structures offers a broad extra dimension to explore for exotic functionalities. Here, we discover that the topology of structures fundamentally dictates the topological properties of optical near fields and offers a new dimension to exploit for optical functionalities that are irrelevant to specific material constituents or structural geometries. We find that the nontrivial topology of metal structures ensures the birth of polarization singularities (PSs) in the near field with rich morphologies and intriguing spatial evolutions including merging, bifurcation, and topological transition. By mapping the PSs to non-Hermitian exceptional points and employing homotopy theory, we extract the core invariant that governs the topological classification of the PSs and the conservation law that regulates their spatial evolutions. The results have effectively bridged three vibrant fields of singular optics, topological photonics, and non-Hermitian physics, with potential applications in chiral sensing, chiral quantum optics, and beyond photonics in other wave systems.
分类： 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： Nonreciprocal optical devices have broad applications in light manipulations for communications and sensing. Non-magnetic mechanisms of optical nonreciprocity are highly desired for high-frequency on-chip applications. Here, we investigate the nonreciprocal properties of light propagation in a dielectric waveguide induced by a subwavelength spinning cylinder. We find that the chiral modes of the cylinder can give rise to unidirectional coupling with the waveguide via the transverse spin-orbit interaction, leading to different transmissions for guided wave propagating in opposite directions and thus optical isolation. We reveal the dependence of the nonreciprocal properties on various system parameters including mode order, spinning speed, and coupling distance. The results show that higher-order chiral modes and larger spinning speed generally give rise to stronger nonreciprocity, and there exists an optimal cylinder-waveguide coupling distance where the optical isolation reaches the maximum. Our work contributes to the understanding of nonreciprocity in subwavelength moving structures and can find applications in integrated photonic circuits, topological photonics, and novel metasurfaces.
分类： 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： Exceptional points (EPs), i.e., non-Hermitian degeneracies at which eigenvalues and eigenvectors coalesce, can be realized by tuning the gain/loss contrast of different modes in non-Hermitian systems or by engineering the asymmetric coupling of modes. Here we demonstrate a mechanism that can achieve EPs of arbitrary order by employing the non-reciprocal coupling of spinning cylinders sitting on a dielectric waveguide. The spinning motion breaks the time-reversal symmetry and removes the degeneracy of opposite chiral modes of the cylinders. Under the excitation of a linearly polarized plane wave, the chiral mode of one cylinder can unidirectionally couple to the same mode of the other cylinder via the spin-orbit interaction associated with the evanescent wave of the waveguide. The structure can give rise to arbitrary-order EPs that are robust against spin-flipping perturbations, in contrast to conventional systems relying on spin-selective excitations. In addition, we show that higher-order EPs in the proposed system are accompanied by enhanced optical isolation, which may find applications in designing novel optical isolators, nonreciprocal optical devices, and topological photonics.
分类： 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： Optical forces in the near fields have important applications in on-chip optical manipulations of small particles and molecules. Here, we report a study of optical force and torque on small particles induced by the optical polarization singularities of a gold cylinder. We show that the scattering of the cylinder generates both electric and magnetic C lines (i.e., lines of polarization singularities) in the near fields, and the C lines can induce complex force and torque on a dielectric/magnetic particle. The force and torque manifest dramatic spatial variations with interesting symmetry properties, providing rich degrees of freedom for near-field optical manipulations. The study, for the first time to our knowledge, uncovers the effect of optical polarization singularities on light-induced force and torque on small particles. The results contribute to the understanding of chiral light-matter interactions and can find applications in on-chip optical manipulations and optical sensing.
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