Physical Origins of Extreme Cross-Polarization Extinction in Confocal Microscopy

Confocal microscopy is an essential imaging tool for biological systems, solid-state physics and nanophotonics. Using confocal microscopes allows performing resonant fluorescence experiments, where the emitted light has the same wavelength as the excitation laser. These challenging experiments are c...

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Autores principales:	Meryem Benelajla, Elena Kammann, Bernhard Urbaszek, Khaled Karrai
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Physical Society 2021
Materias:	Physics QC1-999
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9dab703d5ae4437498a0f7877645def9
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9dab703d5ae4437498a0f7877645def92021-12-02T18:14:38ZPhysical Origins of Extreme Cross-Polarization Extinction in Confocal Microscopy10.1103/PhysRevX.11.0210072160-3308https://doaj.org/article/9dab703d5ae4437498a0f7877645def92021-04-01T00:00:00Zhttp://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.11.021007http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.11.021007https://doaj.org/toc/2160-3308Confocal microscopy is an essential imaging tool for biological systems, solid-state physics and nanophotonics. Using confocal microscopes allows performing resonant fluorescence experiments, where the emitted light has the same wavelength as the excitation laser. These challenging experiments are carried out under linear cross-polarization conditions, rejecting laser light from the detector. In this work, we uncover the physical mechanisms that are at the origin of the yet-unexplained high polarization rejection ratio which makes these measurements possible. We show in both experiment and theory that the use of a reflecting surface (i.e., the beam splitter and mirrors) placed between the polarizer and analyzer in combination with a confocal arrangement explains the giant cross-polarization extinction ratio of 10^{8} and beyond. We map the modal transformation of the polarized optical Gaussian beam. We find an intensity “hole” in the reflected beam under cross-polarization conditions. We interpret this hole as a manifestation of the Imbert-Fedorov effect, which deviates the beam depending on its polarization helicity. This result implies that this topological effect is amplified here from the usually observed nanometer to the micrometer scale due to our cross-polarization dark-field methods. We confirm these experimental findings for a large variety of commercially available mirrors and polarization components, allowing their practical implementation in many experiments.Meryem BenelajlaElena KammannBernhard UrbaszekKhaled KarraiAmerican Physical SocietyarticlePhysicsQC1-999ENPhysical Review X, Vol 11, Iss 2, p 021007 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Physics QC1-999
spellingShingle	Physics QC1-999 Meryem Benelajla Elena Kammann Bernhard Urbaszek Khaled Karrai Physical Origins of Extreme Cross-Polarization Extinction in Confocal Microscopy
description	Confocal microscopy is an essential imaging tool for biological systems, solid-state physics and nanophotonics. Using confocal microscopes allows performing resonant fluorescence experiments, where the emitted light has the same wavelength as the excitation laser. These challenging experiments are carried out under linear cross-polarization conditions, rejecting laser light from the detector. In this work, we uncover the physical mechanisms that are at the origin of the yet-unexplained high polarization rejection ratio which makes these measurements possible. We show in both experiment and theory that the use of a reflecting surface (i.e., the beam splitter and mirrors) placed between the polarizer and analyzer in combination with a confocal arrangement explains the giant cross-polarization extinction ratio of 10^{8} and beyond. We map the modal transformation of the polarized optical Gaussian beam. We find an intensity “hole” in the reflected beam under cross-polarization conditions. We interpret this hole as a manifestation of the Imbert-Fedorov effect, which deviates the beam depending on its polarization helicity. This result implies that this topological effect is amplified here from the usually observed nanometer to the micrometer scale due to our cross-polarization dark-field methods. We confirm these experimental findings for a large variety of commercially available mirrors and polarization components, allowing their practical implementation in many experiments.
format	article
author	Meryem Benelajla Elena Kammann Bernhard Urbaszek Khaled Karrai
author_facet	Meryem Benelajla Elena Kammann Bernhard Urbaszek Khaled Karrai
author_sort	Meryem Benelajla
title	Physical Origins of Extreme Cross-Polarization Extinction in Confocal Microscopy
title_short	Physical Origins of Extreme Cross-Polarization Extinction in Confocal Microscopy
title_full	Physical Origins of Extreme Cross-Polarization Extinction in Confocal Microscopy
title_fullStr	Physical Origins of Extreme Cross-Polarization Extinction in Confocal Microscopy
title_full_unstemmed	Physical Origins of Extreme Cross-Polarization Extinction in Confocal Microscopy
title_sort	physical origins of extreme cross-polarization extinction in confocal microscopy
publisher	American Physical Society
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/9dab703d5ae4437498a0f7877645def9
work_keys_str_mv	AT meryembenelajla physicaloriginsofextremecrosspolarizationextinctioninconfocalmicroscopy AT elenakammann physicaloriginsofextremecrosspolarizationextinctioninconfocalmicroscopy AT bernhardurbaszek physicaloriginsofextremecrosspolarizationextinctioninconfocalmicroscopy AT khaledkarrai physicaloriginsofextremecrosspolarizationextinctioninconfocalmicroscopy
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Physical Origins of Extreme Cross-Polarization Extinction in Confocal Microscopy

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