On-chip optical wavefront shaping by transverse-spin-induced Pancharatanam–Berry phase

Pancharatnam–Berry (PB) metasurfaces can be applied to manipulate the phase and polarization of light within subwavelength thickness. The underlying mechanism is attributed to the geometric phase originating from the longitudinal spin of light. Here, we demonstrate, to the best of our knowledge, a new type of PB geometric phase derived from the intrinsic transverse spin of guided light. Using full-wave numerical simulations, we show that the rotation of a metallic nano-bar sitting on a metal substrate can induce a geometric phase covering 2π full range for the surface plasmons carrying an intrinsic transverse spin. Especially, the geometric phase is different for the surface plasmons propagating in opposite directions due to spin-momentum locking. We apply the geometric phase to design metasurfaces to manipulate the wavefront of surface plasmons to achieve steering and focusing. Our work provides a new mechanism for on-chip light manipulations with potential applications in designing ultra-compact optical devices for imaging and sensing. © 2024 Optica Publishing Group.