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Breakdown of effective-medium theory by a photonic spin Hall effect

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Abstract

Effective-medium theory pertains to the theoretical modelling of homogenization, which aims to replace an inhomogeneous structure of subwavelength-scale constituents with a homogeneous effective medium. The effective-medium theory is fundamental to various realms, including electromagnetics and material science, since it can largely decrease the complexity in the exploration of light-matter interactions by providing simple acceptable approximation. Generally, the effective-medium theory is thought to be applicable to any all-dielectric system with deep-subwavelength constituents, under the condition that the effective medium does not have a critical angle, at which the total internal reflection occurs. Here we reveal a fundamental breakdown of the effective-medium theory that can be applied in very general conditions: showing it for deep-subwavelength all-dielectric multilayers even without a critical angle. Our finding relies on an exotic photonic spin Hall effect, which is shown to be ultrasensitive to the stacking order of deep-subwavelength dielectric layers, since the spin-orbit interaction of light is dependent on slight phase accumulations during the wave propagation. Our results indicate that the photonic spin Hall effect could provide a promising and powerful tool for measuring structural defects for all-dielectric systems even in the extreme nanometer scale.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Structures and Quantum Control of Ministry of Education, Synergetic Innovation Center for Quantum Effects and Applications, School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410081, China

    Shuaijie Yuan, Xinxing Zhou & Lijuan Sheng

  2. International Collaborative Laboratory of 2D Materials for Optoelectronics Science and Technology, Engineering Technology Research Center for 2D Material Information Function Devices and Systems of Guangdong Province, Institute of Microscale Optoelectronics, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China

    Yu Chen

  3. Interdisciplinary Center for Quantum Information, State Key Laboratory of Extreme Photonics and Instrumentation, ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Yuhan Zhong, Hongsheng Chen & Xiao Lin

  4. International Joint Innovation Center, Electromagnetics Academy at Zhejiang University, Zhejiang University, Haining, 314400, China

    Yuhan Zhong, Hongsheng Chen & Xiao Lin

  5. School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    Hao Hu

  6. Key Laboratory of Radar Imaging and Microwave Photonics, Ministry of Education, College of Electronic and Information Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 211106, China

    Hao Hu

  7. Key Laboratory of Advanced Micro/Nano Electronic Devices & Smart Systems of Zhejiang, Jinhua Institute of Zhejiang University, Zhejiang University, Jinhua, 321099, China

    Hongsheng Chen

  8. Shaoxing Institute of Zhejiang University, Zhejiang University, Shaoxing, 312000, China

    Hongsheng Chen

  9. Department of Electrical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel

    Ido Kaminer

Authors
  1. Shuaijie Yuan
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  2. Xinxing Zhou
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  3. Yu Chen
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  7. Hongsheng Chen
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  8. Ido Kaminer
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  9. Xiao Lin
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xinxing Zhou, Hongsheng Chen or Xiao Lin.

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Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Xiao Lin acknowledges the support partly from the National Natural Science Fund for Excellent Young Scientists Fund Program (Overseas) of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 62175212), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Fund Key Project (Grant No. Z23F050009), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2021FZZX001-19), and Zhejiang University Global Partnership Fund. Hongsheng Chen acknowledges the support partly from the Key Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant Nos. 2022YFA1404704, 2022YFA1404902, and 2022YFA1405200), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11961141010, and 61975176). Ido Kaminer acknowledges the support from the Israel Science Foundation (Grant No. 3334/19), and the Israel Science Foundation (Grant No. 830/19). Xinxing Zhou was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11604095), and the Training Program for Excellent Young Innovators of Changsha (Grant No. kq2107013).

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Yuan, S., Zhou, X., Chen, Y. et al. Breakdown of effective-medium theory by a photonic spin Hall effect. Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 66, 114212 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-023-2177-3

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