Controlling the optical spin Hall effect with light

Abstract

The optical spin Hall effect is a transport phenomenon of exciton polaritons in semiconductor microcavities, caused by the polaritonic spin-orbit interaction, which leads to the formation of spin textures. The control of the optical spin Hall effect via light injection in a double microcavity is demonstrated. Angular rotations of the polarization pattern up to 22° are observed and compared to a simple theoretical model. The device geometry is responsible for the existence of two polariton branches which allows a robust independent control of the polariton spin and hence the polarization state of the emitted light field, a solution technologically relevant for future spin-optronic devices.