Nonlinear spin-orbit coupling in optical thin films

Year: 2024

Authors: De Ceglia D., Coudrat L., Roland I., Vincenti MA., Scalora M., Tanos R., Claudon J., Gyrard JM., Degiron A., Leo G., De Angelis C.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Brescia, CNIT, Via Branze 38, I-25123 Brescia, Italy; Univ Brescia, Dept Informat Engn, Via Branze 38, I-25123 Brescia, Italy; CNR, Ist Nazl Ott, Via Branze 45, I-25123 Brescia, Italy; Univ Paris Cite, Lab Mat & Phenomenes Quant, CNRS, 10 rue A Domon & L Duquet, F-75013 Paris, France; Charles M Bowden Res Ctr, Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898 USA; Univ Grenoble Alpes, CEA, Grenoble INP, IRIG,PHELIQS,Nanophys & Semicond Grp, F-38000 Grenoble, France; Inst Univ France IUF, Paris, France.

Abstract: Tunable generation of vortex beams holds relevance in various fields, including communications and sensing. In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility of nonlinear spin-orbit interactions in thin films of materials with second-order nonlinear susceptibility. Remarkably, the nonlinear tensor can mix the longitudinal and transverse components of the pump field. We observe experimentally our theoretical predictions in the process of second-harmonic generation from a thin film of aluminum gallium arsenide, a material platform widely spread for its role in the advancement of active, nonlinear, and quantum photonic devices. In particular, we prove that a nonlinear thin film can be used to produce vector vortex beams of second-harmonic light when excited by circularly-polarized Gaussian beams. Spin-orbit interaction, and the associated phenomena, is commonly observed in crystalline structure pumped with circularly polarised beam. Here, the authors showed that this is not the case, and used nonlinear thin film to produce vortex beams of second-harmonic light.

Journal/Review: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS

Volume: 15 (1)      Pages from: 1625-1  to: 1625-8

More Information: This work was supported by RESPONDER Project NATO SPS G5984 (M.A.V and D.d.C.), METAFAST H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2020 grant agreement no. 899673 (C.D.A.), Ministero Italiano dell’Istruzione (MIUR) through the METEOR project PRIN-2020 2020EY2LJT_002 (C.D.A.), French Agence Nationale de la Recherche through the NOMOS (ANR-18-CE24-0026) and IPOD (ANR-19-CE47-0009) projects grants (G.L., J.M.G., J.C. and R.T.), ERC FORWARD grant agreement no. 771688 (A.D. and I.R.); French Agence de l’Innovation de Defense (50% of L.C.’s PhD grant). The authors thank Yann Genuist (CNRS/Institut Neel) for the growth of the AlGaAs layers by molecular beam epitaxy.
KeyWords: Rugged Fitness Landscapes
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45607-2

Citations: 2
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