Breaking polarization limits: Towards novel confocal microscope design for resonant spectroscopy
Hybrid Quantum Systems

2D materials can be easily fabricated using exfoliation due to the weak out-of-plane van der Waals forces bonding adjacent layers. The exfoliation process is greatly advantaged by the low level of damage caused either to the remaining structure or to the extracted layer.

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To reject the laser light, confocal setups employ polarization filters, which, in theory, should reduce the laser brightness by a factor of up to 105. Our previous work [Phys. Rev. X 11, 021007 (2021)] 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 108 and beyond. It opens the door to a methodical design of sensitive laser resonant fluorescence microscopes with extreme background extinction for a broad range of applications in quantum optics and solid-state physics.

References:

“The physical origins of extreme cross-polarization extinction in confocal microscopy”
Meryem Benelajla, Elena Kammann, Bernhard Urbaszek, Khaled Karrai
Physical Review X 11, 021007 (2021)

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“Spin–orbit interactions of light”
K. Y. Bliokh, F. J. Rodríguez-Fortuño, F. Nori and A. V. Zayats
Nature Photonics 9, 796–808 (2015)

Link