Spin–orbit coupling induced by ascorbic acid crystals

Some anisotropic materials form semicrystalline structures, called spherulites, when observed in a polarisation microscope, exhibit a characteristic “maltese-cross”-like pattern. While this observation has been hitherto considered as a tool to characterize these materials, we show that these pattern...

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Main Authors: Grenapin Florence, D’Errico Alessio, Karimi Ebrahim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: De Gruyter 2023-01-01
Series:Nanophotonics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2022-0502
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author Grenapin Florence
D’Errico Alessio
Karimi Ebrahim
author_facet Grenapin Florence
D’Errico Alessio
Karimi Ebrahim
author_sort Grenapin Florence
collection DOAJ
description Some anisotropic materials form semicrystalline structures, called spherulites, when observed in a polarisation microscope, exhibit a characteristic “maltese-cross”-like pattern. While this observation has been hitherto considered as a tool to characterize these materials, we show that these patterns are associated with a strong light’s spin–orbit coupling induced by the spherulite structures. We experimentally demonstrate these effects using samples of crystallized ascorbic acid and observing the creation of optical vortices in transmitted laser beams, as well as the formation of inhomogeneous polarisation patterns. Our findings suggest the use of some spherulites based on other materials in frequency ranges, e.g. in the THz domain, where polarisation and spatial shaping of electromagnetic radiation is still a challenging task.
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publisher De Gruyter
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series Nanophotonics
spelling doaj-art-2c2d4ed44c7149d2a1dbe02bcfd78c3a2025-08-20T02:23:36ZengDe GruyterNanophotonics2192-86062192-86142023-01-0112142789279510.1515/nanoph-2022-0502Spin–orbit coupling induced by ascorbic acid crystalsGrenapin Florence0D’Errico Alessio1Karimi Ebrahim2Nexus for Quantum Technologies, University of Ottawa, K1N 5N6, ON, Ottawa, CanadaNexus for Quantum Technologies, University of Ottawa, K1N 5N6, ON, Ottawa, CanadaNexus for Quantum Technologies, University of Ottawa, K1N 5N6, ON, Ottawa, CanadaSome anisotropic materials form semicrystalline structures, called spherulites, when observed in a polarisation microscope, exhibit a characteristic “maltese-cross”-like pattern. While this observation has been hitherto considered as a tool to characterize these materials, we show that these patterns are associated with a strong light’s spin–orbit coupling induced by the spherulite structures. We experimentally demonstrate these effects using samples of crystallized ascorbic acid and observing the creation of optical vortices in transmitted laser beams, as well as the formation of inhomogeneous polarisation patterns. Our findings suggest the use of some spherulites based on other materials in frequency ranges, e.g. in the THz domain, where polarisation and spatial shaping of electromagnetic radiation is still a challenging task.https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2022-0502metasurfacesorbital angular momentumspherulitesstructured light
spellingShingle Grenapin Florence
D’Errico Alessio
Karimi Ebrahim
Spin–orbit coupling induced by ascorbic acid crystals
Nanophotonics
metasurfaces
orbital angular momentum
spherulites
structured light
title Spin–orbit coupling induced by ascorbic acid crystals
title_full Spin–orbit coupling induced by ascorbic acid crystals
title_fullStr Spin–orbit coupling induced by ascorbic acid crystals
title_full_unstemmed Spin–orbit coupling induced by ascorbic acid crystals
title_short Spin–orbit coupling induced by ascorbic acid crystals
title_sort spin orbit coupling induced by ascorbic acid crystals
topic metasurfaces
orbital angular momentum
spherulites
structured light
url https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2022-0502
work_keys_str_mv AT grenapinflorence spinorbitcouplinginducedbyascorbicacidcrystals
AT derricoalessio spinorbitcouplinginducedbyascorbicacidcrystals
AT karimiebrahim spinorbitcouplinginducedbyascorbicacidcrystals