Nanophotonic Resonator Assisted Photonic Spin Hall Enhancement for Sensing Application

Abstract

This manuscript presents a dielectric resonator structure with altered dispersion characteristics to enhance the photonic spin hall effect (PSHE). The structural parameters are optimized to enhance the PSHE at 632.8 nm operating wavelength. The thickness-dependent angular dispersion analysis is carried out to optimize the structure and obtain the exceptional points. The PSHE-induced spin splitting shows a high sensitivity to the optical thickness of the defect layer. This gives a maximum PSHE-based transverse displacement (PSHE-TD) of around 56.66 times the operating wavelength at an incidence angle of 61.68°. Moreover, the structure’s capability as a PSHE-based refractive index sensor is also evaluated. The analytical results demonstrate an average sensitivity of around 33,720 μm/RIU. The structure exhibits around five times higher PSHE-TD and approximately 150% improvement in sensitivity than the recently reported values in lossy mode resonance structures. Due to the purely dielectric material-assisted PhC resonator configurations and significantly higher PSHE-TD, the development of low-cost PSHE-based devices for commercial applications is envisaged.