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Weak Measurements of Light Chirality with a Plasmonic Slit

Y. Gorodetski, K. Y. Bliokh, B. Stein, C. Genet, N. Shitrit, V. Kleiner, E. Hasman, and T. W. Ebbesen
Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 013901 – Published 5 July 2012
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Abstract

We examine, both experimentally and theoretically, an interaction of tightly focused polarized light with a slit on a metal surface supporting plasmon-polariton modes. Remarkably, this simple system can be highly sensitive to the polarization of the incident light and offers a perfect quantum weak measurement tool with a built-in postselection in the plasmon-polariton mode. We observe the plasmonic spin Hall effect in both coordinate and momentum spaces which is interpreted as weak measurements of the helicity of light with real and imaginary weak values determined by the input polarization. Our experiment combines the advantages of (i) quantum weak measurements, (ii) near-field plasmonic systems, and (iii) high-numerical aperture microscopy in employing the spin-orbit interaction of light and probing light chirality.

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  • Received 2 April 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.013901

© 2012 American Physical Society

Synopsis

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Weak Measurement of Polarization by a Slit

Published 5 July 2012

Focusing a beam of light on a slit reveals details of its polarization with surprising sensitivity.

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Authors & Affiliations

Y. Gorodetski1, K. Y. Bliokh2,3, B. Stein1, C. Genet1, N. Shitrit4, V. Kleiner4, E. Hasman4, and T. W. Ebbesen1

  • 1ISIS & icFRC, Université de Strasbourg and CNRS (UMR 7006), 8 allée Gaspard Monge, 67000 Strasbourg, France
  • 2Advanced Science Institute, RIKEN, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
  • 3A. Usikov Institute of Radiophysics and Electronics, NASU, Kharkov 61085, Ukraine
  • 4Micro and Nanooptics Laboratory, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel

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Issue

Vol. 109, Iss. 1 — 6 July 2012

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