Emergent spin and orbital angular momentum of light in twisted photonic bilayer

Abstract

We demonstrate that the optical response of twisted photonic bilayers, photonic counterparts of van der Waals structures, is sensitive to both spin angular momentum (SAM) and orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light. A beam of unpolarized light with zero angular momentum acquires SAM in transmission and OAM in reflection. The developed analytical theory and numerical calculations show that the SAM and OAM arise from distinct microscopic mechanisms and depend differently on the interlayer distance. The predicted phenomena do not require light absorption and are caused by the photon-helicity-dependent light diffraction by the moir\'e pattern, which inevitably occurs in the twisted structure, and the SAM-OAM conversion processes. We also reveal strong SAM and OAM in the moir\'e-diffracted beams. Our findings uncover a profound connection between the emergent SAM and OAM in twisted photonic systems offering new possibilities for angular-momentum-resolved light-matter interactions.