2018/12/10 by Enno Krauss, Gary Razinskas, Krauss, Enno +7
Computer Science · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #78-05 #FOS: Physical sciences #Optics (physics.optics) #Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon Research #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum and electron transport phenomena
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1812.03721
openalex publication_date 2018/12/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The photon spin is an important resource for quantum information processing as is the electron spin in spintronics. However, for subwavelength confined optical excitations, polarization as a global property of a mode cannot be defined. Here, we show that any polarization state of a plane-wave photon can reversibly be mapped to a pseudo-spin embodied by the two fundamental modes of a subwavelength plasmonic two-wire transmission line. We design a device in which this pseudo-spin evolves in a well-defined fashion throughout the device reminiscent of the evolution of photon polarization in a birefringent medium and the behaviour of electron spins in the channel of a spin field-effect transistor. The significance of this pseudo-spin is enriched by the fact that it is subject to spin-orbit locking. Combined with optically active materials to exert external control over the pseudo-spin precession, our findings could enable spin-optical transistors, i.e. the routing and processing of quantum information with light on a subwavelength scale.