Berry phase of light Bragg-reflected by chiral liquid crystal media

Abstract

Berry phase is revealed for circularly polarized light when it is Bragg-reflected by a chiral liquid crystal medium of the same handedness. By using a chiral nematic layer we demonstrate that if the input plane of the layer is rotated with respect to a fixed reference frame, then, a geometric phase effect occurs for the circularly polarized light reflected by the periodic helical structure of the medium. Theory and numerical simulations are supported by an experimental observation, disclosing novel applications in the field of optical manipulation and fundamental optical phenomena.

5 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Spin-orbit interactions of light
• Optical spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion in inhomogeneous anisotropic media
• Coriolis Effect in Optics: Unified Geometric Phase and Spin-Hall Effect
• Pancharatnam-Berry phase optical elements for wavefront shaping in the visible domain: switchable helical modes generation

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Bragg-Berry mirrors: reflective broadband q-plates
• Ultra-broadband gradient-pitch Bragg-Berry mirrors
• Interplay between diffraction and the Pancharatnam-Berry phase in inhomogeneously twisted anisotropic media
• Geometric-phase signature of a structurally chiral dielectric slab with a central phase defect
• Distinct Berry Phases in a Single Triangular Möbius Microwave Resonator