Creating pairs of exceptional points for arbitrary polarization control: asymmetric vectorial wavefront modulation

Zijin Yang, Po Sheng Huang, Yu Tsung Lin, Haoye Qin, Jesús Zúñiga-Pérez, Yuzhi Shi, Zhanshan Wang, Xinbin Cheng, Man Chung Tang, Sanyang Han, Boubacar Kanté, Bo Li, Pin Chieh Wu, Patrice Genevet, Qinghua Song

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Exceptional points (EPs) can achieve intriguing asymmetric control in non-Hermitian systems due to the degeneracy of eigenstates. Here, we present a general method that extends this specific asymmetric response of EP photonic systems to address any arbitrary fully-polarized light. By rotating the meta-structures at EP, Pancharatnam-Berry (PB) phase can be exclusively encoded on one of the circular polarization-conversion channels. To address any arbitrary wavefront, we superpose the optical signals originating from two orthogonally polarized -yet degenerate- EP eigenmodes. The construction of such orthogonal EP eigenstates pairs is achieved by applying mirror-symmetry to the nanostructure geometry flipping thereby the EP eigenmode handedness from left to right circular polarization. Non-Hermitian reflective PB metasurfaces designed using such EP superposition enable arbitrary, yet unidirectional, vectorial wavefront shaping devices. Our results open new avenues for topological wave control and illustrate the capabilities of topological photonics to distinctively operate on arbitrary polarization-state with enhanced performances.

Original languageEnglish
Article number232
JournalNature communications
Volume15
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024 Dec

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry
  • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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