Compact photonic spin filters

In this letter, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a compact photonic spin filter formed by integrating a Pancharatnam-Berry phase lens (focal length of 6f) into a conventional planoconcave lens (focal length of -f). By choosing the input port of the filter, photons with a desired spin state, such as the right-handed component or the left-handed one, propagate alone its original propagation direction, while the unwanted spin component is quickly diverged after passing through the filter. One application of the filter, sorting the spin-dependent components of vector vortex beams on higher-order Poincare sphere, is also demonstrated. Our scheme provides a simple method to manipulate light, and thereby enables potential applications for photonic devices. Published by AIP Publishing.