The Hanle effect, one of the first manifestations of quantum theory introducing the concept of coherent superposition between pure states, plays a key role in numerous aspects of science
varying from applicati
ve spectroscopy to fundamental astrophysical in
vestigations. Optical analogues of quantum effects help to achie
ve deeper understanding of quantum phenomena and, in turn, to de
velop cross-disciplinary approaches to realizations of new applications in photonics. Here we show that metallic nanostructures can be designed to exhibit a plasmonic analogue of the quantum Hanle effect and the associated polarization rotation. In the original Hanle effect, time-re
versal symmetry is broken by a static magnetic field. We achie
ve this by introducing dissipati
ve le
vel crossing of localized surface plasmons due to nonuniform losses, designed using a non-Hermitian formulation of quantum mechanics. Such artificial plasmonic 鈥渁toms鈥?ha
ve been shown to exhibit strong circular birefringence and circular dichroism which depends on the
value of loss or gain in the metal-dielectric nanostructure.
Keywords:
Plasmonics; metamaterials; nanoparticles; version&qsSearchArea=searchText">polarization conversion