Experimental observation of a photonic hook

TL;DR

This paper reports the first experimental observation of a photonic hook, a curved near-field light beam with a radius of curvature smaller than the wavelength, marking a significant advancement in electromagnetic beam shaping.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental evidence of a photonic hook generated by a dielectric cuboid with broken symmetry, demonstrating a beam curvature smaller than the wavelength.

Findings

Photonic hook observed experimentally for the first time.

Radius of curvature smaller than the wavelength achieved.

Minimum beam waist around 0.44 lambda.

Abstract

In this letter, we report the first experimental observation of a photonic hook - a new type of near field curved light generated at the output of dielectric cuboid with broken symmetry having dimensions comparable to the electromagnetic wavelength. The radius of curvature associated with the generated photonic hook is smaller than the wavelength used while its minimum beam-waist is about 0.44 lamda. This represents the smallest radius of curvature ever recorded for any alectromagnetic beams.