Plasmon Geometric Phase and Plasmon Hall Shift

Abstract

The collective plasmonic modes of a metal comprise a simple pattern of oscillating charge density that yields enhanced light-matter interaction. Here we unveil that beneath this familiar facade plasmons possess a hidden internal structure that fundamentally alters its dynamics. In particular, we find that metals with nonzero Hall conductivity host plasmons with an intricate current density configuration that sharply departs from that of ordinary zero Hall conductivity metals. This nontrivial internal structure dramatically enriches the dynamics of plasmon propagation, enabling plasmon wave packets to acquire geometric phases as they scatter. At boundaries, these phases accumulate allowing plasmon waves that reflect off to experience a nonreciprocal parallel shift. This plasmon Hall shift, tunable by Hall conductivity as well as plasmon wavelength, displaces the incident and reflected plasmon trajectories and can be readily probed by near-field photonics techniques. Anomalous plasmon geometric phases dramatically enrich the nanophotonics toolbox, and yield radical new means for directing plasmonic beams.