SPINONICS · Integrated devices based on spin-orbit photonics.
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-07-01 → 2023-06-30
- EU contribution
- €262,210
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Integrated devices based on spin-orbit photonics.
The study of light and light-based technologies influences all aspects of human life. Geometric phase has led to several breakthroughs in optical science, leading to both fundamental discoveries and innovative applications. In this context, the EU project SPINONICS explored the implications of geometric phase in designing novel integrated optical devices. Such devices are based upon spin-orbit interactions in anisotropic materials featuring an inhomogeneous distribution of optic axis. This results in the so-called Pancharatnam-Berry phase (PBP). Properly tailoring this phase allows us to guide light in the absence of any gradient in the refractive index. Spin-orbit photonics has garnered much attention in the recent years, leading to the realization of a whole new family of optical devices, the so-called planar photonics. Standard optical waveguides are limited in their ability to conserve information carried by light with both intensity and polarization structuring, a characteristic known as spin-orbit coupling. SPINONICS steps in at this stage by fabricating waveguides capable of supporting structured light and maximizing achievable bit rates. The specific application targeted is optical demultiplexing in data centers or between different cores within the same chip, where silicon photonics finds significant application. The relatively short distances that light travels in these scenarios reduce the impact of fabrication defects and external perturbations on waveguides, making spatial demultiplexing potentially viable. In conclusion, the work carried out in the SPINONICS project represents an initial step toward realizing a new class of waveguides where full control over the properties of an optical beam can be achieved. While further experimental work on device implementation is necessary, the results obtained in this project demonstrate that these waveguides possess properties that cannot be attained in standard waveguides, with potential applications in various practical cases. In the process, we also discovered how these structures are of significant importance in studying phenomena of general interest in the field of physics.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
In recent years several breakthrough have been achieved in wavefront shaping owing to the technological advances in metasurface fabrication. This has led to the whole new field of planar optics wherein the phase and polarization of the beam can be modified due to the Geometric Phase associated with the inhomogeneous distribution of the individual nanostructures. Several novel devices have been proposed, but all these devices work mainly in the plane-wave approximation, i.e., propagation length is much shorter than the Rayleigh length. However many of the integrated photonic devices, including the fundamental component, a waveguide works at lengths much larger than the Rayleigh length. This Project aims to study novel integrated photonic devices based on spin-orbit interactions in anisotropic materials with an inhomogeneous distribution of optic axis resulting in Pancharatnam-Berry Phase (PBP). Tailoring the PBP it is possible to guide light in the absence of any gradient in refractive index, the latter conventionally employed in standard photonic waveguides. In this Project novel integrated photonic components and devices with new functionalities based on PBP will be developed, e.g, directional couplers, polarization-dependent routers, PBP based resonators, fully exploiting the vectorial nature of light by coupling its spin and angular momenta. The Project will mainly focus on liquid crystals where the optic axis can be easily tailored to obtain the desired transverse patterns. However, other materials like structured photopolymer, structured vertical cavity surface emitting laser will also be considered. In the nonlinear regime light itself writes an inhomogeneous distribution of the optic axis resulting in dynamic integrated devices which will be then polymerized to freeze them permanently. Summarizing, the Project will disclose new scenarios for linear and nonlinear integrated optics and enable light guiding and signal routing in structured anisotropic media.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- FRIEDRICH-SCHILLER-UNIVERSITÄT JENA · JENACoordinatorGermany
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union