Mimicking Chiral Light-Matter Interaction

Abstract

We demonstrate that electric-dipole scatterers can mimic chiral light-matter interaction by generating far-field circular polarization upon scattering, even though the optical chirality of the incident field as well as that of the scattered light is zero. The presented effect originates from the fact that electric-dipole scatterers respond selectively only to the incident electric field, which eventually results in depolarization of the transmitted beam and in generation of far-field circular polarization. To experimentally demonstrate this effect we utilize a cylindrical vector beam with spiral polarization and a spherical gold nanoparticle positioned on the optical axis -- the axis of rotational symmetry of the system. Our experiment and a simple theoretical model address the fundamentals of duality symmetry in optics and chiral light-matter interactions, accentuating their richness and ubiquity yet in highly symmetric configurations.

5 pages, 2 figures

References in corpus (30)

• Optical spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion in inhomogeneous anisotropic media
• Chiral Quantum Optics
• Geometrodynamics of Spinning Light
• Dual electromagnetism: Helicity, spin, momentum, and angular momentum
• Quantum Optics of Chiral Spin Networks
• Optical diode based on the chirality of guided photons
• Hypergeometric-Gaussian Modes
• Characterizing optical chirality
• Optical nanoprobing via spin-orbit interaction of light
• Electromagnetic duality symmetry and helicity conservation for the macroscopic Maxwell's equations (previously "Experimental demonstration of electromagnetic duality symmetry breaking")
• Magnetoelectric Effects in Local Light-Matter Interactions
• Conservation of the spin and orbital angular momenta in electromagnetism
• Helicity and Angular Momentum. A Symmetry based framework for the study of Light-Matter Interactions
• On the experimental investigation of the electric and magnetic response of a single nano-structure
• Objects of maximum electromagnetic chirality
• The photonic wheel: demonstration of a state of light with purely transverse angular momentum
• Angular momentum-induced circular dichroism in non-chiral nanostructures
• Twisted-ligth--ion interaction: the role of longitudinal fields
• The optical theorem for the conservation of the electromagnetic helicity: Its significance for molecular transfer and enantiomeric discrimination by dichroism
• Constructing a chiral dipolar mode in an achiral nanostructure
• Orbital-to-Spin Angular Momentum Conversion Employing Local Helicity
• Chiral optical fields: A unified formulation of helicity scattered from particles and dichroism enhancement
• Observation of backscattering-immune chiral electromagnetic modes without time reversal breaking
• Huygens' Dipole for Polarization-Controlled Nanoscale Light Routing
• Unified theory to describe and engineer conservation laws in light-matter interactions
• Weak measurement of elliptical dipole moments by C point splitting
• Far-field measurements of vortex beams interacting with nanoholes
• Optical Chirality of Time-Harmonic Wavefields for Classification of Scatterers
• Non-zero helicity extinction in light scattered from achiral (or chiral) small particles located at points of null incident helicity density
• Observation-based symmetry breaking measures

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Kelvin's Chirality of Optical Beams
• Momentum-space geometric structure of helical evanescent waves and its implications on near-field directionality
• Chiral coupling between a ferromagnetic magnon and a superconducting qubit
• Lateral Optical Forces on Linearly-Polarized Emitters near a Reciprocal Substrate
• Fundamentals and model of resonance helicity and energy transfer between two magnetoelectric chiral particles
• Reactive helicity and reactive power in nanoscale optics: Evanescent waves. Kerker conditions. Optical theorems and reactive dichroism