Spin-Dependent Visible Dyakonov Surface Waves in a Thin Hyperbolic Metamaterial Film.

Abstract

A Dyakonov surface wave offers a promising way of guiding light in two dimensions with almost no loss but also additional freedom of modulation through the anisotropy at the interface. Here we experimentally demonstrated a spin-dependent Dyakonov surface wave mode propagating in a hyperbolic metamaterial film at a visible frequency. Due to the strong anisotropy of the hyperbolic metamaterial, a Dyakonov type mode shows a large allowed angle band and transverse spin with its direction determined by the orientations of the hyperbolic anisotropy and surface normal, based on which we experimentally observed the photonic spin Hall effect of the surface wave mode. This work enables a new generation of two-dimensional photonic circuits with spin-dependent excitation/detection and modulation devices at the subwavelength level.