Synthesis and Dynamic Switching of Surface Plasmon Vortices with Plasmonic Vortex Lens

Abstract

The generation of surface plasmon vortices with arbitrary higher order vortex topological charges with novel plasmonic vortex lens is experimentally demonstrated. It is shown that the polarization sensitivity of the plasmonic vortex lens can be utilized for the dynamic switching of the surface plasmon vortices with different topological charges. A simple algebraic rule related to the vortex topological charge change in the dynamic switching is formulated, and its proof is provided with theory and experiment. The synthesis and dynamic switching of higher order surface plasmon vortices have profound potential in optical trapping, optical data storage, and other related fields.

Spin-dependent optics with metasurfaces

“…(6), now with a phase singularity and a dark spot at the center. We also note that the value of OAM is related to the radius of the dark spot, which can be directly measured by the standard near-field measurement technique (see Figure 7C) [55,89]. Such a spin-dependent SPP profile can be further exploited to achieve a spin-dependent transmission filter through an array of coaxial nanoapertures [90], as shown in Figure 7D.…”

“…More spin-dependent phenomena can be achieved by employing chiral plasmonic structures with embedded topologic charge. Figure 7A shows the schematic diagram of the Archimedes spiral [88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95]. The topological charge q = −1 for the structure is defined by the rate change of radius against azimuthal angle: r = r 0 − λ SPP qΦ/2π.…”

Linearly dichroic plasmonic lens and hetero-chiral structures

“…Higher order spirals were shown to produce plasmonic vortices [8,9,10]. These properties can be attributed to "spin-orbit" like coupling of the polarization of light and the geometrical spiral phase of the slit.…”

Subwavelength chiral surface plasmons that carry tuneable orbital angular momentum

“…7 However, interest in the angular momentum of light was reawakened in 1992 when it was demonstrated 8 that Laguerre-Gaussian beams can transport orbital angular momentum (OAM). [9][10][11][12] The OAM of EM fields has been also studied using plasmonic vortex structures, 13,14 and it has been extensively used in research areas as diverse as biophysics, micromechanics, and microfluidics. 15 At a quantum level, single photons with OAM have the potential for realizing highdimensional quantum spaces with applications in information technologies.…”