Related papers: Measuring the Transverse Spin Density of Light
When a light beam is strongly laterally confined, its field vector spins in a plane not perpendicular to the propagation direction, leading to the presence of transverse spin angular momentum, which plays a crucial role in the field of…
When a beam of light is laterally confined, its field distribution can exhibit points where the local magnetic and electric field vectors spin in a plane containing the propagation direction of the electromagnetic wave. The phenomenon…
It has been known for a long time that light carries both linear and angular momenta parallel to the direction of propagation. However, only recently it has been pointed out that beams of light, under certain conditions, may exhibit a…
We analyze the interference field formed by two electromagnetic plane waves (with the same frequency but different wave vectors), and find that such field reveals a rich and highly non-trivial structure of the local momentum and spin…
Evanescent and tightly confined propagating waves exhibit a remarkable transverse spin density since the longitudinal component of the electric field is not negligible. In this work, we obtain via numerical simulations the electric field…
We evaluate optical forces and torques induced by a surface plasmon to a sphere of arbitrary size, i.e. beyond the point-like dipolar limit. Through a multipolar decomposition of the plasmonic field, we demonstrate that the induced torque…
A circularly polarized electromagnetic plane wave carries an electric field that rotates clockwise or counterclockwise around the propagation direction of the wave. According to the handedness of this rotation, its \emph{longitudinal} spin…
We use differential Ramsey interferometry of ultracold atoms to characterize the vector light shift (VLS) from a far-off resonance optical dipole trap at $\lambda = 1064\,\mathrm{nm}$. The VLS manifests as a `fictitious' magnetic field,…
Transverse electron focusing in two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) with strong spin-orbit coupling is revisited. The transverse focusing is related to the transmission between two contacts at the edge of a 2DEG when a perpendicular…
We investigate the influence of a light beam carrying an orbital angular momentum on the current density of an electron wave packet in a semiconductor stripe. It is shown that due to the photo-induced torque the electron density can be…
We investigate the evolution of transverse spin in tightly focused circularly polarized beams of light, where spin-orbit coupling causes a local rotation of the polarization ellipses upon propagation through the focal volume. The effect can…
It has been recently recognized that in addition to the conventional longitudinal angular momentum, structured (inhomogeneous) optical fields exhibit helicity-independent transverse spin angular momentum (SAM) and an unusual spin (circular…
Access to the transverse spin of light has unlocked new regimes in topological photonics and optomechanics. To achieve the transverse spin of nonzero longitudinal fields, various platforms that derive transversely confined waves based on…
Manipulating the spin polarization of electron beams using light is highly desirable but exceedingly challenging, as the approaches proposed in previous studies using free-space light usually require enormous laser intensities. Here, we…
Plasmonic nanostructures and devices are rapidly transforming light manipulation technology by allowing to modify and enhance optical fields on sub-wavelength scales. Advances in this field rely heavily on the development of new…
Recently, it was shown that a non-zero transverse angular momentum manifests itself in a polarization dependent intensity shift of the barycenter of a paraxial light beam [A. Aiello et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 100401 (2009)]. The…
Tightly focused light beams can exhibit electric fields spinning around any axis including the one transverse to the beams' propagation direction. At certain focal positions, the corresponding local polarization ellipse can degenerate into…
Momentum and spin represent fundamental dynamical properties of quantum particles and fields. In particular, propagating optical waves (photons) carry momentum and longitudinal spin determined by the wave vector and circular polarization,…
A simple experiment is presented which indicates that electromagnetic fields propagate superluminally in the near-field next to an oscillating electric dipole source. A high frequency 437MHz, 2 watt sinusoidal electrical signal is…
Observation of surface-plasmon phenomena that are dependent upon the handedness of the circularly polarized incident light (spin) is presented. The polarization-dependent near-field intensity distribution obtained in our experiment is…