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Optics Letters

Spin-Hall effect of light and its enhancement in multilevel atomic system

Jinze Wu, Junxiang Zhang, Shi‐Yao Zhu, G. S. Agarwal

Published Dec 19, 2019• 25 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Using the sensitivity of atomic transitions on the polarizations of pump fields in multi-Zeeman-sublevel atomic systems, we show the polarization-direction-dependent anisotropic susceptibility of atoms that yields the strong coupling between the spin and the transverse momentum of light, i.e., spin–orbit interaction (SOI). Moreover, we also show that the spin-Hall effect of light can be obtained due to SOI. It can be controlled via the orientation of the anisotropy and frequency of light, and substantially enhanced up to several micrometers, which could be easily observed in experiment.

DOI
10.1364/ol.45.000149

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physics.opticsCross-listedarXiv:2610.40979•Nov 2, 2026
Using the sensitivity of atomic transitions on the polarizations of pump fields in multi-Zeeman-sublevel atomic systems, we show the polarization-direction-dependent anisotropic susceptibility of atoms that yields the strong coupling between the spin and the transverse momentum of light, i.e., spin–orbit interaction (SOI). Moreover, we also show that the spin-Hall effect of light can be obtained due to SOI. It can be controlled via the orientation of the anisotropy and frequency of light, and substantially enhanced up to several micrometers, which could be easily observed in experiment.
We show the existence of spin-Hall effect of light (SHEL) in an atomic medium which is made anisotropic via electromagnetically induced transparency. The medium is made birefringent by applying an additional linearly polarized coupling light beam. The refractive index and the orientation of the optics axis are controlled by the coupling beam. We show that after transmitting the atomic medium, a linearly polarized probe light beam splits into its two spin components by opposite transverse shifts. With proper choice of parameters and atomic density of about 2.5×1017 m−32.5\times10^{17}\,\mathrm{m}^{-3}2.5×1017m−3, the shifts are about the order of wavelength and can be larger than the wavelength by increasing the atomic density. We propose a novel measurement scheme based on a balanced homodyne detection (BHD). By properly choosing the polarization, phase, and transverse mode of the local oscillator of the BHD, one can independently measure (i) the SHEL shifts of the two spin components; (ii) the spatial and angular shifts; (iii) the transverse and longitudinal shifts. The measurement can reach the quantum limit of precision by detecting signals at the modulation frequency of the electro-optic modulator used to modulate the input probe beam. The precision is estimated to be at the nanometer level limited by the quantum noise.
In the photonic spin Hall effect (SHE), also known as the transverse shift, incident light photons with opposite spins are spatially separated in the transverse direction due to the spin-orbit interaction of light. Here, we propose a gain-assisted model to control the SHE in the reflected probe light. In this model, a probe light is incident on a cavity containing a three-level dilute gaseous atomic medium, where the interaction between the atom and the control field follows two-photon Raman transitions. We show that the direction of photonic spin accumulations can be switched between positive and negative values across the Brewster angle in both the anomalous and normal dispersion regimes. For the same magnitude of control fields, the peak value of the photonic SHE is higher in the anomalous dispersion region compared to the normal dispersion regime. Additionally, the angular range around the Brewster angle is wider in the normal dispersion regime than in the anomalous dispersion region. Furthermore, the peak value of the photonic SHE and the angular range can be controlled by changing the Rabi frequencies of the control fields and the probe field detuning. The measurement of photonic SHE based on gain assistance may enable spin-related applications such as optical sensing.
Spin-orbit interactions (SOIs) of light are manifestations of coupling between components of light's angular momentum. They are at play in most basic optical processes, offering opportunities both to understand their fundamental origin and to control light in novel ways. Because SOIs become significant at subwavelength scale, they have largely been explored in the context of inhomogeneous materials exhibiting wavelength-scale structures, and notably metamaterials. Here we demonstrate that spin-orbit interactions can in fact analogously emerge in moving matter through the well-known light-dragging effects. SOIs in moving media are shown to manifest through a Berry phase induced by vorticity, which then leads to a rotation of the wave's polarization. In bringing together electrodynamics of moving media and SOIs of light, our work not only paves the way for the discovery of new fundamental effects but also uncovers novel means to harness SOIs to control light.
Abstract We show that rotation can strongly amplify the photonic spin Hall effect in a ring Bose–Einstein condensate. For an incident probe beam carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM), the spin-dependent transverse shift of the reflected light is weak in the non-rotating regime but becomes strongly enhanced under rotation because rotation lifts the degeneracy of the condensate mechanical modes via Bragg scattering. The resulting mode splitting produces large photonic spin Hall shifts at ultra-low optical power, with the enhancement increasing with both the condensate winding number L p and the probe OAM l , while remaining weakly affected by atom–atom interactions. Our findings elucidate a rotation-governed mechanism underlying spin-dependent light transport in hybrid atom–optomechanical systems, thereby highlighting its potential for applications in high-precision rotational sensing.
Optical spin-orbit interactions (SOI), demonstrated experimentally in optical cavities, enable the polarization degrees of freedom of light to be described and controlled as an effective pseudospin, providing a foundation for spintronic-like control of light and the development of next-generation optical technologies. However, prior works describe this emergent effect using phenomenological models that fail to uncover its microscopic quantum origins, and as a result, a rigorous connection between material electronic structure and the optical SOI remains elusive. In this work, we address this fundamental challenge by developing a microscopic quantum theory starting from the non-relativistic quantum electrodynamical (QED) description of light-matter interactions. We show that this effect arises from virtual interactions between confined photons and material excitations. Crucially, our theoretical framework provides microscopic material-design principles for tuning the distinct components of optical SOI, which include the optical birefringence, photonic self-energies, TE-TM splitting, and optical Zeeman splitting, enabling precise engineering of effective magnetic fields, diabolical points, and pseudospin textures. We anticipate that the predictive capability of our microscopic theory will enable systematic screening and design of material systems for photonic spintronics and optical technologies.