Abstract

We demonstrate topological features in a spin–orbit coupled inhomogeneously polarized beam of light due to propagation of a linearly polarized focused Gaussian beam through a tilted–rotated (θ–ϕ) quartz crystal plate. The crystal plate is kept in a polarization interferometer, and transverse and longitudinal phase difference is introduced between the o- and e-wave-beams via (θ–ϕ) variation. The curvature in the phase difference, originating at a phase saddle, at the stem of an intensity forklet pattern, enables continuous rotation of the output two-lobe intensity pattern as a function of (θ–ϕ). The transverse spin-shift of the rotating output beam shows variation in both magnitude and slope. Such a study of exploring topological features arising due to spin–orbit coupling in simple optical systems is of fundamental interest and is expected to open up potential applications in the investigation of material anisotropy and polarization-sensitive sensing.

© 2022 Optica Publishing Group

Wave dislocation line threaded polarization interferometer

Anagha Sreedharan and Nirmal K. Viswanathan
Opt. Lett. 47(4) 770-773 (2022)

Dynamics of optical spin-orbit coupling in uniaxial crystals

Etienne Brasselet, Yana Izdebskaya, Vladlen Shvedov, Anton S. Desyatnikov, Wieslaw Krolikowski, and Yuri S. Kivshar
Opt. Lett. 34(7) 1021-1023 (2009)

Nonlinear rotation of spin-orbit coupled states in hollow ring-core fibers

Sai Kanth Dacha, Wenqi Zhu, Amit Agrawal, Kenneth J. Ritter, and Thomas E. Murphy
Opt. Express 30(11) 18481-18495 (2022)

Transverse instability of dark solitons in spin-orbit coupled polariton condensates

Dmitry A. Zezyulin and Yaroslav V. Kartashov
Opt. Lett. 43(19) 4623-4626 (2018)

Spin–orbit coupling suppressed high-capacity dual-step-index ring-core OAM fiber

Quanchao Lu, Jiajing Tu, Zhuo Wang, Shecheng Gao, Ji Zhou, Qinghua Xiao, Lei Shen, Xiaobo Lan, Weiping Liu, and Zhaohui Li
Opt. Lett. 47(5) 1141-1144 (2022)