Full polarization control of photons with evanescent wave coupling in the ultra subwavelength gap of photonic molecules

Polarization of photons plays a key role in quantum optics and light-matter interactions, however, it is difficult to control in nanosystems since the eigenstate of a nanophotonic cavity is usually fixed and linearly polarized. Here, we reveal the polarization control of photons using photonic molecules (PMs) that host supermodes of two coupled nanobeam cavities. In contrast to conventional PMs in a 2D photonic crystal slab, for the two 1D photonic crystal nanobeam cavities the shift and gap between them can be tuned continuously. With an ultra subwavelength gap, the coupling between the two cavities is dominated by the evanescent wave coupling in the surrounding environment, rather not the emission wave coupling for conventional PMs. As such, the non-Hermiticity of the system becomes pronounced, and the supermodes consist of a non-trivial phase difference between bare eigenstates that supports elliptical polarization. We observe that both the polarization degree and polarization angle of the antisymmetric mode strongly depend on the shift and gap between the two cavities, exhibiting polarization states from linear to circular. This full polarization control indicates the great potential of PMs in quantum optical devices and spin-resolved cavity quantum electrodynamics.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Light Science & Applications
Published
2025-03-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01794-1
Citations
6
Primary Topic
Photonic and Optical Devices
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
4.38
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Full polarization control of photons with evanescent wave coupling in the ultra subwavelength gap of photonic molecules

Kuijuan Jin, Chenjiang Qian, Sai Yan, Hancong Li et al.
6 citations
Light Science & Applications
Photonic and Optical Devices
4.38
article

Full polarization control of photons with evanescent wave coupling in the ultra subwavelength gap of photonic molecules

Kuijuan Jin, Chenjiang Qian, Sai Yan, Hancong Li, Shan Xiao, Zhanchun Zuo, Xiqing Chen, Xiulai Xu, Qihuang Gong, Danjie Dai, Deyan Dai, Can Wang, Yuan Yu, Rui Zhu, Longlong Yang, Hanqing Liu, Zhichuan Niu, Jingnan Yang, Haiqiao Ni
article en
6 citations

Abstract

Polarization of photons plays a key role in quantum optics and light-matter interactions, however, it is difficult to control in nanosystems since the eigenstate of a nanophotonic cavity is usually fixed and linearly polarized. Here, we reveal the polarization control of photons using photonic molecules (PMs) that host supermodes of two coupled nanobeam cavities. In contrast to conventional PMs in a 2D photonic crystal slab, for the two 1D photonic crystal nanobeam cavities the shift and gap between them can be tuned continuously. With an ultra subwavelength gap, the coupling between the two cavities is dominated by the evanescent wave coupling in the surrounding environment, rather not the emission wave coupling for conventional PMs. As such, the non-Hermiticity of the system becomes pronounced, and the supermodes consist of a non-trivial phase difference between bare eigenstates that supports elliptical polarization. We observe that both the polarization degree and polarization angle of the antisymmetric mode strongly depend on the shift and gap between the two cavities, exhibiting polarization states from linear to circular. This full polarization control indicates the great potential of PMs in quantum optical devices and spin-resolved cavity quantum electrodynamics.

Light Science & ApplicationsVol. 14(1)
King University (US), Shanxi University (CN), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Peking University (CN), FZU ‒ Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CZ), Institute of Semiconductors (CN), Institute of Physics (CN), National Laboratory for Superconductivity (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Photonic and Optical Devices
4.38
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.