Circularly polarized light at the mirror: Caveats and opportunities
Francesco Zinna, Gennaro Pescitelli, Lorenzo Di Bari
Abstract
Moving from the simple concept that reflection onto a mirror surface changes the handedness of circularly polarized light, we describe what happens to the emergent polarization in two different cases after reflection on a back mirror. In the first case, a regular emitter is taken into account, where reflection has the effect to destroy the emergent polarization. In the second case, we show what could happen when a hypothetical apparently non-reciprocal emitting material undergoes a similar experiment. These simple concepts have important implications in the design of efficient circularly polarized emitting devices.
Topics & Concepts
Circular polarizationPolarization (electrochemistry)ReciprocalOpticsReflection (computer programming)Common emitterMirror imageChemistryPhysicsOptoelectronicsComputer scienceMicrostripProgramming languagePhilosophyPhysical chemistryLinguisticsMolecular Junctions and NanostructuresPhotonic and Optical DevicesSemiconductor Lasers and Optical Devices