Efficient Vortex Generation in Subwavelength Epsilon-Near-Zero Slabs

Alessandro Ciattoni, Andrea Marini, and Carlo Rizza
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 104301 – Published 10 March 2017
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Abstract

We show that a homogeneous and isotropic slab, illuminated by a circularly polarized beam with no topological charge, produces vortices of order 2 in the opposite circularly polarized components of the reflected and transmitted fields, as a consequence of the transverse magnetic and transverse electric asymmetric response of the rotationally invariant system. In addition, in the epsilon-near-zero regime, we find that vortex generation is remarkably efficient in subwavelength thick slabs up to the paraxial regime. This physically stems from the fact that a vacuum paraxial field can excite a nonparaxial field inside an epsilon-near-zero slab since it hosts slowly varying fields over physically large portions of the bulk. Our theoretical predictions indicate that epsilon-near-zero media hold great potential as nanophotonic elements for manipulating the angular momentum of the radiation, since they are available without resorting to complicated micro- or nanofabrication processes and can operate even at very small (ultraviolet) wavelengths.

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  • Received 5 October 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.104301

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Alessandro Ciattoni1, Andrea Marini2, and Carlo Rizza1

  • 1Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR-SPIN, Via Vetoio 10, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
  • 2ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, 08860 Castelldefels, Spain

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Issue

Vol. 118, Iss. 10 — 10 March 2017

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