Hybrid-order Poincaré sphere

Abstract

In this work, we develop a hybrid-order Poincar\'e sphere to describe the evolution of polarization states of wave propagation in inhomogeneous anisotropic media. We extend the orbital Poincar\'e sphere and high-order Poincar\'e sphere to a more general form. Polarization evolution in inhomogeneous anisotropic media with special geometry can be conveniently described by state evolution along the longitude line on the hybrid-order Poincar\'e sphere. Similar to that in previously proposed Poincar\'e spheres, the Berry curvature can be regarded as an effective magnetic field with monopole centered at the origin of sphere and the Berry connection can be interpreted as the vector potential. Both the Berry curvature and the Pancharatnam-Berry phase on the hybrid-order Poincar\'e sphere are demonstrated to be proportional to the variation of total angular momentum. Our scheme provides a convenient method to describe the spin-orbit interaction in inhomogeneous anisotropic media.