Related papers: Interactions of space-variant polarization beams w…
We demonstrate a pump-probe scheme in which an atomic vapor is optically pumped with circularly polarized light and probed with a vector vortex beam. The pump induces a macroscopic magnetization in the medium, which gives rise to…
We demonstrate the use of cylindrical vector beams - beams with spatially varying polarization - for detecting and preparing the spin of a warm rubidium vapor in a spatially dependent manner. We show that a modified probe vector beam can…
We present the effects of resonator birefringence on the cavity-enhanced interfacing of quantum states of light and matter, including the first observation of single photons with a time-dependent polarisation state that evolves within their…
The interplay between time-reversal symmetry breaking and strong light-matter coupling in 2D gases brings intriguing aspects to polariton physics. This combination can lead to polarization/spin selective light-matter interaction in the…
Using a scheme based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, we propose an analysis of the superposition of polarized laser beams at a given angle. The focus of our study is the spatially varying polarization state of the resulting field, also…
We demonstrate that polarization modulation of an illumination beam can effectively control the spatial profile of the light transmitted through turbid media. Since the transmitted electric fields are completely mingled in turbid media,…
We numerically investigate the transfer of optical information from a vector-vortex control beam to an unstructured probe beam, as mediated by an atomic vapour. The right and left circular components of these beams drive the atomic…
A strongly confined light field necessarily exhibits a local polarization that varies on a subwavelength scale. We demonstrate that a single optical mode of such kind can be used to selectively and simultaneously manipulate atomic ensembles…
Spatial light modulators are versatile devices employed in a vast range of applications to modify the transverse phase or amplitude profile of an incident light beam. Most experiments are designed to use a specific polarization which…
We investigate the interplay between Zeeman and light shifts in the transmission spectrum of an optically trapped, spin-polarized Rubidium atom. The spectral shape of the transmission changes from multiple, broad resonances to a single,…
A long-standing prediction of quantum electrodynamics, yet to be experimentally observed, is the interaction between real photons in vacuum. As a consequence of this interaction, the vacuum is expected to become birefringent and dichroic if…
We investigate the inherent influence of light polarization on the intensity distribution in anisotropic media undergoing a local inhomogeneous rotation of the principal axes. Whereas in general such configuration implies a complicated…
When linearly polarized light propagates through a medium in which elliptically polarized light would undergo self-rotation, squeezed vacuum can appear in the orthogonal polarization. A simple relationship between self-rotation and the…
We report the generation of optical squeezed vacuum states by means of polarization self-rotation in rubidium vapor following a proposal by Matsko et al. [Phys. Rev. A 66, 043815 (2002)]. The experimental setup, involving in essence just a…
Liquid crystals allow for the real-time control of the polarization of light. We describe and provide some experimental examples of the types of general polarization transformations, including universal polarization transformations, that…
Using the phenomena of linear and circular birefringence we propose a device that can alter general elliptical polarization of a beam by a predetermined amount, thereby allowing conversion between linearly-polarized light and circularly…
A scheme for polarization control using two laser beams in a non-linear optical medium is studied using both co- and counter-propagating beam geometries. In particular, we show that under certain conditions it is possible for two laser…
A mechanism is advanced suggesting the resolution of the dichotomy of long-lived spin polarization storage versus fast spin reversal at the required time. A system of atoms or molecules is considered interacting through magnetic dipolar…
The spatiotemporal sculpturing of light beams with arbitrary phase and polarization topologies has garnered significant attention in recent years due to its potential to advance optical technologies and reveal novel physical phenomena.…
Neutron Zeeman spatial beam-splitting is considered at reflection from magnetically noncollinear films. Two applications of Zeeman beam-splitting phenomenon in polarized neutron reflectometry are discussed. One is the construction of…