The circular and linear magnetic birefringences corresponding to the Faraday and the Cotton-Mouton effects, respectively, have been measured in xenon at $λ= 1064$ nm. The experimental setup is based on time dependent magnetic fields and a high finesse Fabry-Perot cavity. Our value of the Faraday effect is the first measurement at this wavelength. It is compared to theoretical predictions. Our uncertainty of a few percent yields an agreement at better than 1$σ$ with the computational estimate when relativistic effects are taken into account. Concerning the Cotton-Mouton effect, our measurement, the second ever published at $λ= 1064$ nm, agrees at better than $1σ$ with theoretical predictions. We also compare our error budget with those established for other experimental published values.
We demonstrate experimentally the fine lateral circular birefringence of a tunable birefringent polymer, the first example of the spin Hall effect of light in a polymeric material. We report experimental observations of this effect using polarimetric techniques and quantum-weak-measurement techniques, reporting a weak amplification factor of 200.
We demonstrate an optomechanical platform where optical mode conversion mediated by mechanical motion enables arbitrary tailoring of polarization states of propagating light fields. Optomechanical interactions are realized in a Fabry-Perót resonator, which naturally supports two polarization-degenerate states while an optical control field induces rotational symmetry breaking. Applying such principles, the entire Poincaré sphere is spanned by just optical control of the driving field, realizing reciprocal and non-reciprocal optomechanically-induced birefringence for linearly polarized and circ…
A simple, self-calibrating, rotating-waveplate polarimeter is largely insensitive to light intensity fluctuations and is shown to be useful for determining the Stokes parameters of light. This study shows how to minimize the in situ self-calibration time, the measurement time and the measurement uncertainty. The suggested methods are applied to measurements of spatial variations in the linear and circular polarizations of laser light passing through glass plates with a laser intensity dependent birefringence. These are crucial measurements for the ACME electron electric dipole measurements, re…
Bi-isotropic media constitute a proper scenario for scrutinizing optical effects stemming from magnetoelectric parameters. Chiral magnetic current is a macroscopic effect arising from the chiral magnetic effect that enriches the phenomenology of a classical dielectric medium. This work examines optical aspects of bi-isotropic media in the presence of magnetic conductivity. The full isotropic scenario manifests circular birefringence described by a dispersive rotatory power that changes sign at a given frequency. For a bi-isotropic medium with antisymmetric magnetic conductivity, an intricate d…
Optical activity (OA), also called circular birefringence, is known for two hundred years, but its applications for topological photonics remain unexplored. Unlike the Faraday effect, OA provokes rotation of the linear polarization of light without magnetic effects, thus preserving the time-reversal symmetry. Here, we report a direct measurement of the Berry curvature and quantum metric of the photonic modes of a planar cavity containing an optically active organic microcrystal (perylene). Photonic spin-orbit-coupling induced by the cavity results in the action of a non-Abelian gauge field on …
