arXiv subjects

L. Kuipers

Publications and source records attributed to L. Kuipers.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Spatial bunching of same-charge polarization singularities in two-dimensional random vector waves

Topological singularities are ubiquitous in many areas of physics. Polarization singularities are locations at which an aspect of the polarization ellipse of light becomes undetermined or degenerate. At C points the orientation of the ellipse becomes degenerate and light's electric field vector describes a perfect circle in time. In 2D slices of 3D random fields the distribution in space of the C points is reminiscent of that of interacting particles. With near-field experiments we show that when light becomes truly 2D, this has severe consequences for the distribution of C points in space. The most notable change is that the probability of finding two C points with the same topological charge at a vanishing distance is enhanced in a 2D field. This is an unusual finding for any system which exhibits topological singularities as same-charge repulsion is typically observed. All our experimental findings are supported with theory and excellent agreement is found between theory and experiment.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Screening and fluctuation of the topological charge in random wave fields

Vortices, phase singularities, and topological defects of any kind often reflect information that is crucial for understanding physical systems in which such entities arise. With near-field experiments supported by numerical calculations, we determine the fluctuations of the topological charge for phase singularities in isotropic random waves as a function of the size R of the observation window. We demonstrate that for two-dimensional fields such fluctuations increase with a superlinear scaling law, consistent with a R log R behavior. Additionally, we show that such scaling remains valid in the presence of anisotropy.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Electromagnetic helicity in complex media

Optical helicity density is usually discussed for monochromatic electromagnetic fields in free space. It plays an important role in the interaction with chiral molecules or nanoparticles. Here we introduce the optical helicity density in a dispersive isotropic medium. Our definition is consistent with biorthogonal Maxwell electromagnetism in optical media, the Brillouin energy density, as well as with the recently-introduced canonical momentum and spin of light in dispersive media. We consider a number of examples, including electromagnetic waves in dielectrics, negative-index materials, and metals, as well as interactions of light in a medium with chiral and magnetoelectric molecules.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

A full vectorial mapping of nanophotonic light fields

Light is a union of electric and magnetic fields, and nowhere is their complex relationship more evident than in the near fields of nanophotonic structures. There, complicated electric and magnetic fields varying over subwavelength scales are generally present, leading to photonic phenomena such as extraordinary optical momentum, super-chiral fields, and a complex spatial evolution of optical singularities. An understanding of such phenomena requires nanoscale measurements of the complete optical field vector. However, while it was recently demonstrated that near-field scanning optical microscopy is sensitive to the complete electromagnetic field, a separation of the different components required a priori knowledge of the sample. Here we introduce a robust algorithm that can disentangle all six electric and magnetic field components from a single near-field measurement, without any numerical modeling of the structure. As examples, we unravel the fields of two prototypical nanophotonic structures: a photonic crystal waveguide and a plasmonic nanowire. These results pave the way to new studies of complex photonic phenomena at the nanoscale, and for the design of structures that optimize the optical behavior that they exhibit.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2017

Nanoscale chiral valley-photon interface through optical spin-orbit coupling

The emergence of two-dimensional transition metal chalcogenide materials has sparked an intense activity in valleytronics since their valley information can be directly encoded and detected by using the spin angular momentum of light. For their practical applications such as on-chip valley logic gates and chip-to-chip valley transport, the encoding and processing of valley pseudospin using light should be extended to an integrated, on-chip nanophotonic system. Here, we successfully demonstrate, at room temperature, the valley-dependent directional coupling of light using a plasmonic nanowire-WS2 layers system. Our calculations show that the local transverse spin angular momentum of the mode of the plasmonic nanowire provides robust optical spin-path locking of up to 91 %. Experimentally we demonstrate that valley pseudospin in WS2 is coupled with optical spin of the same handedness and exhibits a high directional coupling efficiency up to 90 % to the plasmonic guided mode. The result opens up new avenues of controlling, detecting and processing valley and spin information with precise optical control at the nanoscale.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2017

Quasinormal-mode expansion of the scattering matrix

It is well known that the quasinormal modes (or resonant states) of photonic structures can be associated with the poles of the scattering matrix of the system in the complex-frequency plane. In this work, the inverse problem, i.e., the reconstruction of the scattering matrix from the knowledge of the quasinormal modes, is addressed. We develop a general and scalable quasinormal-mode expansion of the scattering matrix, requiring only the complex eigenfrequencies and the far-field properties of the eigenmodes. The theory is validated by applying it to illustrative nanophotonic systems with multiple overlapping electromagnetic modes. The examples demonstrate that our theory provides an accurate first-principle prediction of the scattering properties, without the need for postulating ad-hoc nonresonant channels.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Polarization engineering in photonic crystal waveguides for spin-photon entanglers

By performing a full analysis of the projected local density of states (LDOS) in a photonic crystal waveguide, we show that phase plays a crucial role in the symmetry of the light-matter interaction. By considering a quantum dot (QD) spin coupled to a photonic crystal waveguide (PCW) mode, we demonstrate that the light-matter interaction can be asymmetric, leading to unidirectional emission and a deterministic entangled photon source. Further we show that understanding the phase associated with both the LDOS and the QD spin is essential for a range of devices that that can be realised with a QD in a PCW. We also show how quantum entanglement can completely reverse photon propagation direction, and highlight a fundamental breakdown of the semiclassical dipole approximation for describing light-matter interactions in these spin dependent systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Nanophotonic control of circular dipole emission: toward a scalable solid-state to flying-qubits interface

Controlling photon emission by single quantum emitters with nanostructures is crucial for scalable on-chip quantum information processing. Nowadays nanoresonators can affect the lifetime of emitters and ultimately induce strong coupling between the emitters and the light field, while nanoantennas can control the directionality of the emission. Expanding this control to the manipulation of the emission of orbital angular momentum-changing transitions would enable coupling between long-lived solid-state qubits and flying qubits. As these transitions are associated with circular rather than linear dipoles, such control requires detailed knowledge of the spatially dependent interaction of a complex dipole with highly structured optical eigenstates containing local helicity. Using a classical analogue, we experimentally map the coupling of circular dipoles to photonic modes in a model structure, a photonic crystal waveguide. We show that depending on the local helicity the dipoles can be made to couple to modes either propagating to the left or to the right. The maps are in excellent agreement with calculations. Our measurements, therefore, demonstrate the coupling of spin to photonic pathway with near-unity (0.8 $\pm$ 0.1) efficiency.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Controlling plasmonic Bloch modes on periodic nanostructures

We study and actively control the coherent properties of Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPPs) optically exited on a nano-hole array. Amplitude and phase of the optical excitation are externally controlled via a digital spatial light modulator (SLM) and SPP interference fringe patterns are observed with high contrast. Our interferometric observations revel SPPs dressed with the Bloch modes of the periodic nano-structure. The momentum associated with these Dressed Plasmons (DP) is highly dependent on the grating period and fully matches our theoretical predictions. We show that the momentum of DP waves can in principle exceed the SPP momentum. Actively controlling DP waves via programmable phase patterns offers the potential for high field confinement applicable in sensing, Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering and plasmonic structured illumination microscopy.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2012

Plasmon scattering from single sub-wavelength holes

We map the complex electric fields associated with the scattering of surface plasmon polaritons by single sub-wavelength holes of different sizes in thick gold films. We identify and quantify the different modes associated with this event, including a radial surface wave with an angularly isotropic amplitude. This wave is shown to arise from the out-of-plane electric dipole induced in the hole, and we quantify the corresponding polarizability, which is in excellent agreement with electromagnetic theory. Time-resolved measurements reveal a time-delay of 38? +/- 18 fs between the surface plasmon polariton and the radial wave, which we attribute to the interaction with a broad hole resonance.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

Ultrafast tuneable optical delay line based on indirect photonic transitions

We introduce the concept of an indirect photonic transition and demonstrate its use in a dynamic delay line to alter the group velocity of an optical pulse. Operating on an ultrafast time scale, we show continuously tuneable delays of up to 20 ps, using a slow light photonic crystal waveguide only 300 $μ$m in length. Our approach is flexible, in that individual pulses in a pulse stream can be controlled independently, which we demonstrate by operating on pulses separated by just 30 ps. The two-step indirect transition is demonstrated here with a 30% conversion efficiency.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2012

Ultrafast tilting of the dispersion of a photonic crystal and adiabatic spectral compression of light pulses

We demonstrate, by theory and experiment, the ultrafast tilting of the dispersion curve of a photonic-crystal waveguide following the absorption of a femtosecond pump pulse. By shaping the pump-beam cross section with a nanometric shadow mask, different waveguide eigenmodes acquire different spatial overlap with the perturbing pump, leading to a local flattening of the dispersion by up to 11 %. We find that such partial mode perturbation can be used to adiabatically compress the spectrum of a light pulse traveling through the waveguide.

physics.optics↗