Enhanced in-plane and out-of-plane photonic spin Hall effect via surface plasmon resonance

In this paper, the impacts of surface plasmon resonance on the photonic spin Hall effect (PSHE), both in-plane (parallel to the plane of incidence) and out-of-plane (perpendicular to the plane of incidence), are investigated theoretically. The expressions of the spatial and angular shifts of the in-plane and out-of-plane spin splitting for the p-polarized Gaussian beam reflected from dielectricmetal film interface are derived. These shifts under different metal film thicknesses are calculated as a function of the angle of incidence. The simulation results reveal that both of the in-plane and out-of-plane PSHE are significantly enhanced when surface plasmons are strongly excited. The largest spatial in-plane photonic spin splitting (IPPSS) shift can reach 13.499 mu m under the optimal parameter conditions. It is almost up to its upper limitation (half of the waist of the incident beam) and larger than the values reported previously. The largest angular IPPSS shift can be up to 2.462 x 10(-3) rad that is almost equal to half of the divergence angle of the incident beam in our system. It is also found that the directions of spin accumulation and spatial propagation of photons in both in-plane and out-of-plane can be switched by slightly adjusting the angle of incidence or film thickness under certain conditions. The findings may provide a new way for photon manipulation and open another possibility for the development of new nanophotonic devices. Published by AIP Publishing.