Related papers: Characterizing optical chirality
We consider the energy and helicity densities of circularly polarised light within a lossless chiral medium, characterised by the chirality parameter $\beta$. A form for the helicity density is introduced, valid to first order in $\beta$,…
Chirality is a fundamental concept in physics that underpins various phenomena in nonlinear optics, quantum physics, and topological photonics. Although the spin of a photon naturally brings chirality, orbital angular momentum can also…
Synthetic chiral light fields were recently introduced as a novel source of chirality [Ayuso et al. Nat. Phot. 13, 866 (2019)]. This locally-chiral light spans a three-dimensional polarization that plots a chiral trajectory in space-time,…
Analytical forms of the optical helicity and optical chirality of monochromatic Laguerre-Gaussian optical vortex beams are derived up to second order in the paraxial parameter $kw_0$. We show that input linearly polarised optical vortices…
Chiral light-matter interactions have traditionally been understood in terms of electric-magnetic dipolar interference driven by light with spin angular momentum. Here, we show that optical chirality can also originate from the orbital…
It has been long recognized that the spatial polarization of the electronic clouds in molecules, and the spatial arrangements of atoms into chiral molecular structures, play crucial roles in physics, chemistry and biology. However, these…
We calculate optical forces and torques exerted on a chiral dipole by chiral light fields and reveal genuinely chiral forces in combining the chiral contents of both light field and dipolar matter. Here, the optical chirality is…
Structured light enables the characterization of chirality of optically small nanoparticles by taking advantage of the helicity maximization concept recently introduced in[1]. By referring to fields with nonzero helicity density as chiral…
In quantum mechanics, each conserved quantity (e.g., energy, position, linear momentum and angular momentum) is associated with a Hermitian operator. Its expected value can then be determined by performing a measurement on the wavefunction.…
Chirality in inorganic nanoparticles and nanostructures has gained increasing scientific interest, because of the possibility to tune their ability to interact differently with left- and right-handed circularly polarized light. In some…
Light is one of the most powerful and precise tools allowing us to control, shape and create new phases of matter. In this task, the magnetic component of a light wave has so far played a unique role in defining the wave's helicity, but its…
Optical helicity density is usually discussed for monochromatic electromagnetic fields in free space. It plays an important role in the interaction with chiral molecules or nanoparticles. Here we introduce the optical helicity density in a…
Optical chirality density is a measure of the local handedness of electromagnetic fields. Like energy density, it may be absorbed or scattered through the interaction between light and matter. Here, we utilize the conservation of optical…
The helicity representation of the linear momentum density of a light wave is well understood for monochromatic optical fields in both paraxial and non-paraxial regimes of propagation. In this note we generalize such representation to…
Chirality is a fundamental asymmetry phenomenon, with chiral optical elements exhibiting asymmetric response in reflection or absorption of circularly polarized light. Recent realizations of such elements include nanoplasmonic systems with…
The phenomenon of molecular optical activity manifests itself as the rotation of the plane of linear polarization when light passes through chiral media. Measurements of optical activity and its wavelength dependence, optical rotatory…
The spin-orbit interaction in a focused-reflected beam of light results in spatially non-uniform polarization in the beam cross-section due to the superposition of orthogonal field components and polarization-dependent interface reflection…
It has been assumed that optical activity can be measured by illuminating alternatively a material with left- and right- handed circular polarized light and analyzing the differential response. This simple and intuitive approach is in…
We present a result derived from the optical chirality continuity equation that shows the existence of a source term describing optical chirality generation through the interactions of the magnetic induction field with a source current,…
Recently arXiv:2004.02970 showed that the extraordinary transverse spin momentum density of spatially confined optical fields is largely independent of polarization. Here it is shown that 3D structured optical vortices which possess the…