Pseudo-spin light circuits in nonlinear photonic crystals

Ofir Yesharim, Shani Izhak and Ady Arie ()
Additional contact information
Ofir Yesharim: Tel Aviv University
Shani Izhak: Tel Aviv University
Ady Arie: Tel Aviv University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Guiding light forms the backbone of numerous photonic circuits that allow complex, robust, and miniaturized light control. Commonly, guiding is achieved by modifying linear permittivity, resulting in a non-homogeneous linear medium. Here, we propose and experimentally realize photonic circuits in a homogeneous refractive index medium, where the guiding is driven entirely by nonlinear interaction, enabling dual-wavelength light beam guidance and optical control. This mechanism is analogous to spin current transport in sharp magnetic domain walls, where magnetization texture constitutes a spin-dependent potential. Using narrow custom-poled nonlinear photonic crystals, we guide frequency superposition beams that act as pseudo-spins over more than four Rayleigh lengths. We show that guiding properties depend on the relative phase between participating wavelengths, which can be optically switched on and off with an optical pump. Additionally, using two parallel-poled structures, we experimentally realize a pseudo-spin directional coupler, paving the way for numerous waveguiding hallmarks in a single nonlinear crystal and offering robust control over frequency superposition states of light. Finally, our findings show that it is possible to experimentally emulate complex, precise 2D magnetization domain wall structures, opening avenues for exploration that remain challenging in magnetic materials.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-61918-4 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-61918-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61918-4

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().