Papers by Enrico Santamato
Journal of Physics B, Dec 14, 1997
A dielectric slab waveguide with a hybrid aligned liquid crystal stage is investigated as a tool ... more A dielectric slab waveguide with a hybrid aligned liquid crystal stage is investigated as a tool for understanding the nonlinear behaviour of optical liquid crystal guiding devices. A theoretical model of the liquid crystal interaction with pure TM guided modes, in the specified geometry, is given, and the coupling coefficients among the different stages of the waveguide are calculated by
European Journal of Physics, Feb 28, 2017
The working principle of ordinary refractive lenses can be explained in terms of the space-varian... more The working principle of ordinary refractive lenses can be explained in terms of the space-variant optical phase retardations they introduce, which reshape the optical wavefront curvature and hence affect the subsequent light propagation. These phases, in turn, are due to the varying optical path length seen by light at different transverse positions relative to the lens centre. A similar lensing behavior can however be obtained when the optical phases are introduced by an entirely different mechanism. Here, we consider the "geometric phases" that arise from the polarization transformations occurring in anisotropic optical media, named after Pancharatnam and Berry. The medium anisotropy axis is taken to be space-variant in the transverse plane and the resulting varying geometric phases give rise to the wavefront reshaping and lensing effect, which however depends also on the input polarization. We describe the realization and characterization of a cylindrical geometric-phase lens that is converging for a given input circular polarization state and diverging for the orthogonal one, which provides one of the simplest possible examples of optical element based on geometric phases. The demonstrated lens is flat and only few microns thick (not including the supporting substrates); moreover, its working wavelength can be tuned and the lensing can be switched on and off by the action of an external control electric field. Other kinds of lenses or more general phase elements inducing different wavefront distortions can be obtained by a similar approach. Besides their potential for optoelectronic technology, these devices offer good opportunities for introducing college-level students to an advanced topic of modern physics, such as the Berry phase, with the help of interesting optical demonstrations.
arXiv (Cornell University), Jun 10, 2013
The propagation of an electron beam in the presence of transverse magnetic fields possessing inte... more The propagation of an electron beam in the presence of transverse magnetic fields possessing integer topological charges is presented. The spin-magnetic interaction introduces a nonuniform spin precession of the electrons that gains a space-variant geometrical phase in the transverse plane proportional to the field's topological charge, whose handedness depends on the input electron's spin state. A combination of our proposed device with an electron orbital angular momentum sorter can be utilized as a spin-filter of electron beams in a mid-energy range. We examine these two different configurations of a partial spin-filter generator numerically. The results of these analysis could prove useful in the design of improved electron microscope.
arXiv (Cornell University), Oct 20, 2016
Topological insulators are fascinating states of matter exhibiting protected edge states and robu... more Topological insulators are fascinating states of matter exhibiting protected edge states and robust quantized features in their bulk. Here, we propose and validate experimentally a method to detect topological properties in the bulk of one-dimensional chiral systems. We first introduce the mean chiral displacement, an observable that rapidly approaches a value proportional to the Zak phase during the free evolution of the system. Then we measure the Zak phase in a photonic quantum walk of twisted photons, by observing the mean chiral displacement in its bulk. Next, we measure the Zak phase in an alternative, inequivalent timeframe, and combine the two windings to characterize the full phase diagram of this Floquet system. Finally, we prove the robustness of the measure by introducing dynamical disorder in the system. This detection method is extremely general, and readily applicable to all present one-dimensional platforms simulating static or Floquet chiral systems.
Physical Review Letters, Jan 27, 2012
Journal of Optics, 2021
We introduce a wide class of singular inhomogeneously polarized beams characterized by a nonunifo... more We introduce a wide class of singular inhomogeneously polarized beams characterized by a nonuniform rotation rate of the local polarization azimuth about a C- or a V-point. They are obtained by adding an extra phase modulation with an m-fold rotational symmetry to the helical wavefronts underpinning Poincaré beams. The resulting modulated Poincaré beams have been theoretically studied and experimentally generated using tailored space-varying-axis plates based on liquid crystals.
Frontiers in Physics, 2020
We demonstrate the possibility of creating optical beams with phase singularities engraved into e... more We demonstrate the possibility of creating optical beams with phase singularities engraved into exotic intensity landscapes imitating the shapes of a large variety of diverse plane curves. To achieve this aim, we have developed a method for directly encoding the geometric properties of a selected curve into a single azimuthal phase factor without passing through indirect encryption methods involving lengthy numerical procedures. The outcome is utilized to mold the optic axis distribution of a liquid-crystal-based inhomogeneous waveplate. The latter is finally used to sculpt the wavefront of an input optical gaussian beam via the Pancharatnam-Berry phase.
New Journal of Physics, 2019
Electromagnetic plane waves, solutions to Maxwell’s equations, are said to be ‘transverse’ in vac... more Electromagnetic plane waves, solutions to Maxwell’s equations, are said to be ‘transverse’ in vacuum. Namely, the waves’ oscillatory electric and magnetic fields are confined within a plane transverse to the waves’ propagation direction. Under tight-focusing conditions however, the field can exhibit longitudinal electric or magnetic components, transverse spin angular momentum, or non-trivial topologies such as Möbius strips. Here, we show that when a suitably spatially structured beam is tightly focused, a three-dimensional polarization topology in the form of a ribbon with two full twists appears in the focal volume. We study experimentally the stability and dynamics of the observed polarization ribbon by exploring its topological structure for various radii upon focusing and for different propagation planes.
New Journal of Physics, 2016
The Born rule, a foundational axiom used to deduce probabilities of events from wavefunctions, is... more The Born rule, a foundational axiom used to deduce probabilities of events from wavefunctions, is indispensable in the everyday practice of quantum physics. It is also key in the quest to reconcile the ostensibly inconsistent laws of the quantum and classical realms, as it confers physical significance to reduced density matrices, the essential tools of decoherence theory. Following Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation, textbooks postulate the Born rule outright. However, recent attempts to derive it from other quantum principles have been successful, holding promise for simplifying and clarifying the quantum foundational bedrock. A major family of derivations is based on envariance, a recently discovered symmetry of entangled quantum states. Here, we identify and experimentally test three premises central to these envariance-based derivations, thus demonstrating, in the microworld, the symmetries from which the Born rule is derived. Further, we demonstrate envariance in a purely local quantum system, showing its independence from relativistic causality.
Nature Communications, 2016
Many phenomena in solid-state physics can be understood in terms of their topological properties.... more Many phenomena in solid-state physics can be understood in terms of their topological properties. Recently, controlled protocols of quantum walk (QW) are proving to be effective simulators of such phenomena. Here we report the realization of a photonic QW showing both the trivial and the non-trivial topologies associated with chiral symmetry in one-dimensional (1D) periodic systems. We find that the probability distribution moments of the walker position after many steps can be used as direct indicators of the topological quantum transition: while varying a control parameter that defines the system phase, these moments exhibit a slope discontinuity at the transition point. Numerical simulations strongly support the conjecture that these features are general of 1D topological systems. Extending this approach to higher dimensions, different topological classes, and other typologies of quantum phases may offer general instruments for investigating and experimentally detecting quantum t...
Physical Review E, 2002
A coupled-mode theory is presented to describe the dynamics of the molecular director induced by ... more A coupled-mode theory is presented to describe the dynamics of the molecular director induced by an elliptically polarized light plane wave normally incident onto a homeotropic liquid crystal film. The model provides a set of time ordinary differential equations for the lowest two modes of the system while the influence of the higher-order twist modes is accounted for by means of the adiabatic approximation. The resulting dynamics is complex above the reorientation threshold, according to the intensity and polarization of the incident light, rotating, oscillating, or steady states may settle. The dynamical regimes have been studied as functions of external parameters. The agreement with the experimental data was very good.
Science, 2015
Light with twist and structure Möbius strips are three-dimensional structures consisting of a sur... more Light with twist and structure Möbius strips are three-dimensional structures consisting of a surface with just a single side. Readily demonstrated by snipping a paper ring, adding a twist, and then joining the ends of paper together again, these structures have intriguing mathematical properties in terms of topology and geometry. Bauer et al. used a liquid crystal to engineer the wavefront of a laser beam to make an optical version of the Möbius strip by effectively “snipping and twisting” the polarization properties of the light beam. Science , this issue p. 964
Physical Review E, 2003
We observed on-off intermittency in the chaotic rotation induced by a cw laser beam in a thin liq... more We observed on-off intermittency in the chaotic rotation induced by a cw laser beam in a thin liquid crystal film where the spin and the orbital angular momentum of light compete in reorienting the sample. We found that the azimuthal angle (t) of the molecular director increased linearly in time on large time scales but, occasionally, it exhibited large fluctuations about its average value 0 t, so that its angular velocity (t) undergoes an on-off intermittent motion. The intermittent signal (t)ϭ (t)Ϫ 0 obeyed the scaling laws of on-off intermittency, including the symmetry between laminar and burst phases. The chaotic rotations were observed only when the spin and the angular momentum of light were transferred simultaneously to the sample.
Ultramicroscopy, 2014
The propagation of an electron beam in the presence of transverse magnetic fields possessing inte... more The propagation of an electron beam in the presence of transverse magnetic fields possessing integer topological charges is presented. The spin-magnetic interaction introduces a nonuniform spin precession of the electrons that gains a space-variant geometrical phase in the transverse plane proportional to the field's topological charge, whose handedness depends on the input electron's spin state. A combination of our proposed device with an electron orbital angular momentum sorter can be utilized as a spin-filter of electron beams in a mid-energy range. We examine these two different configurations of a partial spin-filter generator numerically. The results of these analysis could prove useful in the design of improved electron microscope.
Physical Review Letters, 2001
All-optical angular control of the molecular alignment in liquid-crystal films is demonstrated us... more All-optical angular control of the molecular alignment in liquid-crystal films is demonstrated using a laser beam having an elliptically shaped intensity profile. The material birefringence is unimportant, as proven by the fact that good alignment is obtained with unpolarized light. This raises the possibility of achieving optical angular control of transparent isotropic bodies. A general theoretical approach, based on light and matter angular momentum conservation, shows that the optical alignment is due to the internal compensation between the transfer of the orbital and the spin part of angular momentum of the incident photons to the material.
Physical Review Letters, 2009
Physical Review Letters, 2012
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Papers by Enrico Santamato