Chinese Optics Letters, Volume. 23, Issue 10, 100002(2025)

Tunable in-plane photonic spin Hall effect for vortex structured light on a ReS2-graphene heterostructure

Yiyu Shi1, Zhiwei cui1、*, Junting He1, Wenqian Gong2, and Xinxing Zhou2,3,4、**
Author Affiliations
  • 1School of Physics, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China
  • 2Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Structures and Quantum Control of Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China
  • 3Key Laboratory of Physics and Devices in Post-Moore Era, College of Hunan Province, Changsha 410081, China
  • 4Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China
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    We report tunable in-plane shifts of the photonic spin Hall effect (PSHE) for Laguerre–Gauss mode (LGM) at the glass-air interface coated with a ReS2-graphene heterostructure (HS). It is found that the in-plane shifts of PSHE can be effectively modulated by altering the topological charge of the incident LGM and the rotation angle of the ReS2 near the critical angle. Interestingly, we find anomalous enhanced in-plane shifts of PSHE far from the critical angle with specific polarization angles, which rise from the sharp decrease of the reflection coefficient for the circularly polarized components. Our results will provide useful insight for the adjustment of the in-plane shifts of PSHE.

    Keywords

    1. Introduction

    The photonic spin Hall effect (PSHE) refers to the in-plane and transverse beam centroid shifts of the reflected or refracted left-handed circularly polarized (LCP) and right-handed circularly polarized (RCP) components compared to the incident linearly polarized spatial confined light in gradient-index media[1]. Such a phenomenon originates from the spin-orbit interaction at the optical interface[2]. In this process, the polarization vector of each angular spectrum component rotates and interferes in momentum space, then results in the redistribution of the light intensity, which manifests itself as the spin-dependent shift of the beam centroid in real space[35]. Besides, many works point out that the spatial beam mode can significantly impact such beam shifts[68]. In contrast to the mainly studied Gauss mode, the vortex structured light, such as the Laguerre–Gauss mode[911] possessing the intrinsic orbital angular momentum, will experience the orbital Hall effect at the optical interface aside from the spin Hall effect (SHE)[1214]. It brings extra unilateral orbital-angular-momentum-dependent shifts and provides additional freedom to control the PSHE, which raises more and more research interest recently[1520]. When the shifts of LCP and RCP components coincide, the in-plane shift is equivalent to the Goos–Hänchen shift and has the advantage of direct observation compared with the transverse shift. It has potential applications in optical sensing and metrology[2124]. Most of these applications rely on the effective modulation of the in-plane shift. Therefore, exploring the active and dynamical method to manipulate the in-plane shift of PSHE for LGM is desirable.

    There have been some works devoted to this topic. Li et. al studied the tunable in-plane shift of PSHE in layered dielectric structure[25]. Lin et. al investigated the thickness-dependent in-plane shift of PSHE in an anisotropic medium[26]. Subsequently, Qin et. al explored the adjustable in-plane shift of PSHE based on the surface plasmon resonance[27]. The methods to control the in-plane PSHE in these studies concern varying the thickness of materials, which is complicated and hard to apply in practice. In recent years, the ReS2, as a representative two-dimensional (2D) layered transition metal dichalcogenide, has captivated the scientific community’s attention due to its excellent optoelectronic properties. Owing to the formation of the Re-Re chain, the ReS2 has in-plane low symmetry, exhibiting polarization-dependent photo-response[28], orientation-dependent polarized direct optical transition[29], anisotropic transient absorption[30], anisotropic conductivity[31], crystalline-axis-dependent electronic change[32], and so on. Such in-plane anisotropic optical property offers additional freedom to control the light field. Via the interlayer van der Waals coupling engineering, the heterostructures (HSs) composed of ReS2 also promise exotic properties and promote the development of the optoelectronic devices. Lately, there have been some works devoted to manipulating the beam shifts via the HSs composed of ReS2. Li et al. and Yan et al. successively conducted investigations on adjustable Goos-Hänchen shifts based on the Au-ReS2-graphene HS[33] and ReS2-black phosphorus HS[34]. These works indicate that HSs composed of ReS2 could be used to manipulate the in-plane shifts of PSHE for LGM by rotating the HS flexibly rather than changing the physical properties of the HS.

    Here, we conduct a comprehensive investigation of the in-plane shifts of PSHE for LGM at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS. First, the in-plane spatial and angular shifts for arbitrary linearly polarized LGM are derived. Then, we numerically simulate the in-plane spatial and angular shifts for different incident angles, polarization angles, topological charges of incident LGM, and the rotation angles of the ReS2. It is found that varying the topological charge or rotation angle can amplify or suppress the in-plane PSHE for the case of different incident angles. It is worth noting that the anomalous enhancement in the in-plane PSHE far from the critical angle will occur with specific polarization angles. The mechanism behind this phenomenon originates from the near-zero value of the reflection coefficient for the circularly polarized components.

    2. Results and Discussion

    As demonstrated in Fig. 1, we establish a reflection model to describe the in-plane shifts of PSHE for LGM at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS. When a linearly polarized LGM reflects at this interface, the in-plane spatial δ±x and angular Δ±x shifts of left- and right-handed circularly polarized components will emerge. Here, the z axis of the global coordinate system (x,y,z) is normal to the glass-air interface. The local coordinates (xi,yi,zi) and (xr,yr,zr) are respectively used to describe the incident and reflected light. The angular spectrum of the incident LGM is E˜i(kix,kiy)=w024π{w0[ikix+sign(l)kiy]2}|l|e(kix2+kiy2)w02/4,where w0 is the beam waist, |l| is the absolute value of topological charge l, sign(·) is the sign function, and kix and kiy are the incident wave vector k0 components along x and y axes, respectively. The polarization states of the beam can be expressed by the Jones vector (cosβ,sinβ)T, where β equals 0° or 90°, denoting the p- or s-polarization. The reflected angular spectrum is calculated under the paraxial case as[35][E˜rpE˜rs]=[rpkrxk0rpθikryk0cotθi(rp+rs)kryk0cotθi(rp+rs)rskrxk0rsθi][E˜ipE˜is],where rs and rp represent the overall Fresnel reflection coefficients for s- and p-polarization, respectively, and θi is the incident angle. Using the relationships krx=kix, kry=kiy, and E˜rσ=(E˜rp+iσE˜rs)/2, we can get the reflected electric field Erσ(xr,yr,zr) of the LCP (σ=1) and RCP (σ=1) as Erσ=E˜rσei[krxxr+kryyrzr(krx2+kry2)/(2k0)]dkrxdkry=[a(i|l|sign(l)xr+|l|yrr2+ik0xrzR+izr)+b(|l|xri|l|sign(l)yrr2+ik0yrzR+izr)+c]Φ,where a=k01rp/θicos  β+iσk01rs/θisinβ,b=iσk01(rp+rs)cotθieiσβ,c=rpcosβiσrssinβ,and Φ=[isign(l)yrxrw]|l|[2(1izr/zR)1+(zr/zR)2]|l|e(xr2+yr2)/w021+izr/zR1+izr/zR,with w=w01+(z/zR)2 and zR=k0w02/2. It can be seen that the reflected electric field and in-plane shift depend not only on the absolute value of l but also on the sign of l. The total in-plane beam shifts of PSHE can be derived as δσx+Δσx=xr|Erσ|2dxrdyr|Erσ|2dxrdyr=A|l|BC|l|D+|l|2E,in which A=w2[2ρRe(c)+2τIm(c)]S1/8,B=[2χRe(c)2sign(l)ξIm(c)]S2,C=S1k02w2(|a|2+|b|2)/(zR2+zr2)/8|c|2S4,D=2{[ρsign(l)κ]χ+[γ+sign(l)τ]ξ}S2,E=8S3(χ2+ξ2)/w2,with ρ=k0Re(a)zrIm(a)zRzR2+zr2,γ=k0Re(b)zrIm(b)zRzR2+zr2,τ=k0Re(a)zR+Im(a)zrzR2+zr2,κ=k0Re(b)zR+Im(b)zrzR2+zr2,χ=sign(l)Im(a)Re(b),ξ=sign(l)Im(b)+Re(a),S1=s=0|l|C|l|sH2s+2(0)H2|l|2s(0),S2=s=0|l|1C|l|1sH2s+2(0)H2|l|2s2(0),S3=s=0|l|1C|l|1sH2s(0)H2|l|2s2(0),S4=s=0|l|C|l|sH2s(0)H2|l|2s(0),with Cnm being the combinatorial number and Hnm being the Hermite polynomial. If l=0, Eq. (6) can degenerate to the form of the Gauss mode[35].

    (a) Schematic diagram of the in-plane spatial and angular shifts of PSHE for LGM. (b) Configuration of glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS. The relationships between angular shifts and deflections are Δ±x = zrϕ±x. Θ is the rotation angle between the incident light’s polarization plane and the Re-Re chain.

    Figure 1.(a) Schematic diagram of the in-plane spatial and angular shifts of PSHE for LGM. (b) Configuration of glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS. The relationships between angular shifts and deflections are Δ±x = zrϕ±x. Θ is the rotation angle between the incident light’s polarization plane and the Re-Re chain.

    In this work, the overall rs and rp in the multilayered structure can be written as[36]rp(s)=r01p(s)+r12p(s)e2ik1d1+e2ik2d2[e2ik1d1+r01p(s)r12p(s)]r23p(s)1+e2ik2d2r12p(s)r23p(s)+e2ik1d1r01p(s)[r12p(s)+e2ik2d2r23p(s)],where dj is the thickness of the medium with relative refractive index nj, kj denotes the wave numbers in different media, and rijp(s) represents the reflection coefficients between different media, with subscripts i,j=0,1,2,3 standing for glass, ReS2, graphene, and air, respectively. Among them, the complex relative refractive index n1 of the ReS2 is[33]n1=1/cos2Θ/na+sin2Θ/nb,in which Θ is the angle between the polarization plane of the incident light and the Re-Re chain, called the rotation angle. na=4.20+0.77i and nb=3.93+0.39i are the complex refractive indices of the parallel and orthogonal Re-Re chain directions of ReS2 at the incident wavelength λ=0.6328μm. It can be seen that the anisotropy of ReS2 can be expressed from both the real and imaginary parts of the complex refractive indices. The imaginary part is related to absorption. Hence, the absorption coefficient of ReS2 is obviously polarization-dependent, exhibiting highest and lowest when the polarization direction of the incident light is parallel or orthogonal to the Re-Re chain, respectively.

    In the following numerical simulations, if not otherwise stated, we assume that topological charge l=1, the incident wavelength in air λ=0.6328μm, the beam waist w0=27μm, the relative refractive index of graphene n2=3+1.15i, the relative refractive index of glass n0=2.115[37] (the matched critical angle θc=28.21°), the thickness of ReS2d1=0.70nm, the thickness of graphene d2=0.34nm, and the propagation distance zr=250mm for angular shift. We plot the δ+xδx and Δ+xΔx in the following figures to represent the degree of in-plane PSHE, which show the differences between the spatial shifts and angular shifts of LCP and RCP components, respectively.

    According to previous work[35], the in-plane spatial and angular shifts at the glass-air interface will be enhanced near the critical angle and the impacts of physical parameters on them are more obvious than those far from the critical angle. Thus, we examine the in-plane shifts near the critical angle θc=28.21° first. Figure 2 depicts the differences between in-plane spatial shifts δ±x and angular shifts Δ±x of LCP and RCP components with different rotation angles Θ, incident angles θi, and polarization angles β at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS or not, near the critical angle θc. When θi<θc, the introduction of ReS2-graphene HS dramatically enhances the Δ+xΔx, which is always zero at the glass-air interface[35]. The reason is that the total Fresnel reflection coefficients are purely real in the glass-air model when θi<θc, so the spin-dependent components in the analytical expression of angular shift are zero. However, the introduction of ReS2-graphene HS leads to the complex total Fresnel reflection coefficients, and these spin-dependent components are no longer zero any more. In contrast to that in the glass-air model, the magnitude of δ+xδx is weakened to some extent. It is worth noting that the sign of δ+xδx turns from negative to positive for all β as the Θ changes from 0° to 90°, accompanied by the magnitude of δ+xδx being suppressed and then amplified. For the case of θi>θc, the δ+xδx is obviously enhanced by the introduction of ReS2-graphene HS but becomes robust against Θ. Additionally, the Δ+xΔx can be tuned from a positive value to a negative value for all β by increasing Θ from 0° to 90°. These phenomena indicate that the in-plane PSHE can be amplified, suppressed, and reversed by changing the Θ.

    Differences between in-plane spatial shifts δ±x and angular shifts Δ±x of LCP and RCP components with different rotation angles Θ, incident angles θi, and polarization angles β at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS or not, near the critical angle θc. (a), (b) δ+x−δ−x; (c), (d) Δ+x−Δ−x.

    Figure 2.Differences between in-plane spatial shifts δ±x and angular shifts Δ±x of LCP and RCP components with different rotation angles Θ, incident angles θi, and polarization angles β at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS or not, near the critical angle θc. (a), (b) δ+x−δx; (c), (d) Δ+x−Δx.

    To obtain a clear physical picture concerning the impact of the rotation angle on the in-plane PSHE of LGM, Fig. 3 is introduced to reveal the normalized field distribution |Erσ|2 of the reflected LCP and RCP components at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS for different rotation angles Θ near the critical angle θc. In addition, the propagation distance zr=250mm, incident angle θi=28.22°, and polarization angle β=78° are fixed. Under this condition, the angular shifts take dominance in beam displacements. For Θ=90°, the reflected LCP and RCP components both have x-direction displacements, and the Δ+xΔx=0.17mm.

    Normalized field distribution |Erσ|2 of the reflected LCP and RCP components at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS for different rotation angles Θ near the critical angle θc, with propagation distance zr = 250 mm, incident angle θi = 28.22°, and polarization angle β = 78°. The dashed lines denote the xr = 0 and yr = 0, and the solid lines represent the yr = yc (yc is the horizontal position of the reflected beam centroid). (a)–(c) LCP and (d)–(f) RCP components.

    Figure 3.Normalized field distribution |E|2 of the reflected LCP and RCP components at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS for different rotation angles Θ near the critical angle θc, with propagation distance zr = 250 mm, incident angle θi = 28.22°, and polarization angle β = 78°. The dashed lines denote the xr = 0 and yr = 0, and the solid lines represent the yr = yc (yc is the horizontal position of the reflected beam centroid). (a)–(c) LCP and (d)–(f) RCP components.

    At the same time, the transverse beam displacements are too tiny to observe directly. If Θ is varied to 45°, the displacements of the reflected LCP and RCP components are increased and decreased, respectively, and the Δ+xΔx is amplified with the sign switched. When Θ=0°, we can clearly see that the reflected LCP and RCP components separate into opposite directions, which means that the corresponding spin-dependent displacements are very large. In this case, the Δ+xΔx is enhanced to 0.75 mm. These phenomena are all consistent with those in Fig. 2(d).

    Next, the impacts of topological charge l on the differences between in-plane spatial δ±x and angular Δ±x shifts of LCP and RCP components with different incident angles θi and polarization angles β at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS near the critical angle θc are depicted in Fig. 4. It can be seen that the δ+xδx will be enhanced by increasing the value of |l| when β is close to 90°. By reversing the sign of l from positive to negative, the magnitude of δ+xδx will be amplified when θi<θc but suppressed if θi>θc. For the Δ±x, with increasing the value of |l|, the Δ+xΔx can be enhanced with arbitrary β. Meanwhile, the Δ+xΔx is not sensitive to the sign switch of l. These phenomena verify the validity of manipulating the in-plane PSHE for LGM via changing the topological charge.

    Impacts of topological charge l on the differences between in-plane spatial shifts δ±x and angular shifts Δ±x of LCP and RCP components with different incident angles θi and polarization angles β at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS for the case of rotation angle Θ = 0°, near the critical angle θc. (a), (b) δ+x−δ−x; (c), (d) Δ+x−Δ−x.

    Figure 4.Impacts of topological charge l on the differences between in-plane spatial shifts δ±x and angular shifts Δ±x of LCP and RCP components with different incident angles θi and polarization angles β at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS for the case of rotation angle Θ = 0°, near the critical angle θc. (a), (b) δ+x−δx; (c), (d) Δ+x−Δx.

    Aside from the enhancements near the critical angle θc, we find that there exist anomalous enhanced in-plane spatial δ±x and angular Δ±x shifts of PSHE for LGM far from the critical angle θc at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS, as plotted in Fig. 5. When Θ=0°, the δ+xδx will be sharply enhanced near the θi58.24°θc with β72.46°. It is worth noting that if we vary the β when θi is fixed at 58.24°, the sign of δ+xδx will reverse near β72.46°, which also does not appear in the glass-air model. If Θ turns from 0° to 45°, δ+xδx is amplified near θi63.81° and β84.22°, also accompanied by an abrupt sign reversal across β. Then we proceed to increase Θ to 90°, and the θi and β corresponding to the enhancement of δ+xδx are increased to 67.54° and 81.36°. Analogous to the δ+xδx, Δ+xΔx is also amplified near these special θi and β. Differently, the sign reversal of the enhanced Δ±x emerges across the θi rather than the β, which is similar to the enhancement of the in-plane PSHE across the critical angle. These phenomena imply that the introduction of ReS2-graphene HS provides an additional incident angle to enhance the in-plane PSHE, and this angle can be tailored by altering the rotation angle.

    Anomalous enhanced in-plane spatial shifts δ±x and angular shifts Δ±x of PSHE for LGM with different rotation angles Θ, incident angles θi, and polarization angles β at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS, far from the critical angle θc. (a)–(c) δ+x−δ−x; (d)–(f) Δ+x−Δ−x.

    Figure 5.Anomalous enhanced in-plane spatial shifts δ±x and angular shifts Δ±x of PSHE for LGM with different rotation angles Θ, incident angles θi, and polarization angles β at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS, far from the critical angle θc. (a)–(c) δ+x−δx; (d)–(f) Δ+x−Δx.

    To explore the underlying mechanisms behind the anomalous enhanced in-plane spatial δ±x and angular Δ±x shifts presented in Fig. 5, we plot the magnitude and phase of terms k0a, k0b, and c in Eq. (6) with different incident angles θi and polarization angles β at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS in Fig. 6. Among them, the term c represents the reflection coefficient of the LCP or RCP components for the arbitrary linearly polarized incident LGM. For convenience, we only analyze the cases for LCP component σ=1 and rotation angle Θ=0°. From Figs. 6(a) and 6(b), we can see that the magnitude of term c is sharply decreased, accompanied by an abrupt phase jump near β72.46° when θi58.24°. Meanwhile, the magnitudes and phases of the terms k0a and k0b are steady. In actuality, the term |c|2 is dominant in the denominator of Eq. (6) and the δ±xϕ(c)/|c| under these conditions. Therefore, it leads to the enhancement of the δ±x and the sign reversal across θi58.24° in Fig. 5(a), which is analogous to the enhanced transverse shifts of PSHE near the Brewster angle.

    (a), (c) Magnitude and (b), (d) phase of the terms k0a, k0b, and c in Eq. (6) with different incident angles θi and polarization angles β at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS, for LCP component σ = 1 and rotation angle Θ = 0°.

    Figure 6.(a), (c) Magnitude and (b), (d) phase of the terms k0a, k0b, and c in Eq. (6) with different incident angles θi and polarization angles β at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS, for LCP component σ = 1 and rotation angle Θ = 0°.

    A similar phenomenon can be seen in Figs. 6(c) and 6(d); the amplification and sign switch of Δ±x in Fig. 5(d) can be ascribed to the near-zero value of term c and phase jump of term c around θi58.24° if β72.46°.

    3. Conclusion

    In summary, we have conducted a comprehensive investigation on the in-plane PSHE of an arbitrary linearly polarized LGM at the glass-air interface coated with ReS2-graphene HS. The general expressions of the in-plane spatial and angular shifts of PSHE for the LGM were derived. It was shown that the variations of topological charge of the LGM and the rotation angle of the ReS2 all have obvious influences on the in-plane shifts of PSHE near the critical angle, including enhancing or weakening the magnitude of shifts and reversing their signs. Besides, the anomalous enhancement in the in-plane PSHE far from the critical angle with specific polarization angles was found. It rises from the sharp decrease of the reflection coefficient for the circularly polarized components. These findings may be valuable for the adjustment of the in-plane shifts of PSHE and provide valid guidance for the development of the optical sensor based on vortex structured light.

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    Yiyu Shi, Zhiwei cui, Junting He, Wenqian Gong, Xinxing Zhou, "Tunable in-plane photonic spin Hall effect for vortex structured light on a ReS2-graphene heterostructure," Chin. Opt. Lett. 23, 100002 (2025)

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    Paper Information

    Special Issue: SPECIAL ISSUE ON STRUCTURED LIGHT: FUNDAMENTALS AND APPLICATIONS

    Received: Apr. 23, 2025

    Accepted: May. 23, 2025

    Published Online: Sep. 8, 2025

    The Author Email: Zhiwei cui (zwcui@mail.xidian.edu.cn), Xinxing Zhou (xinxingzhou@hunnu.edu.cn)

    DOI:10.3788/COL202523.100002

    CSTR:32184.14.COL202523.100002

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