Emergence of transverse spin in optical modes of semiconductor nanowires

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how weakly-guided modes in semiconductor nanowires generate transverse spin angular momentum, opening new avenues for controlling light-matter interactions in nanophotonics.

Contribution

It reveals the origin of transverse spin in semiconductor nanowire modes through evanescent fields and the transversality condition, highlighting its potential for advanced photonic applications.

Findings

Transverse spin arises in weakly-guided modes of nanowires.

Evanescent fields and transversality explain the spin properties.

Potential applications in chiral trapping and quantum info.

Abstract

The transverse spin angular momentum of light has recently received tremendous attention as it adds a new degree of freedom for controlling light-matter interactions. In this work we demonstrate the generation of transverse spin angular momentum by the weakly-guided mode of semiconductor nanowires. The evanescent field of these modes in combination with the transversality condition rigorously accounts for the occurrence of transverse spin angular momentum. The intriguing and nontrivial spin properties of optical modes in semiconductor nanowires are of high interest for a broad range of new applications including chiral optical trapping, quantum information processing, and nanophotonic circuitry.