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    Spin-orbit coupling of light in asymmetric microcavities
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Ma, L.B.; Li, S.L.; Fomin, V.M.; Hentschel, M.; Götte, J.B.; Yin, Y.; Jorgensen, M.R.; Schmidt, O.G.
    When spinning particles, such as electrons and photons, undergo spin–orbit coupling, they can acquire an extra phase in addition to the well-known dynamical phase. This extra phase is called the geometric phase (also known as the Berry phase), which plays an important role in a startling variety of physical contexts such as in photonics, condensed matter, high-energy and space physics. The geometric phase was originally discussed for a cyclically evolving physical system with an Abelian evolution, and was later generalized to non-cyclic and non-Abelian cases, which are the most interesting fundamental subjects in this area and indicate promising applications in various fields. Here, we enable optical spin–orbit coupling in asymmetric microcavities and experimentally observe a non-cyclic optical geometric phase acquired in a non-Abelian evolution. Our work is relevant to fundamental studies and implies promising applications by manipulating photons in on-chip quantum devices.
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    Water nanostructure formation on oxide probed in situ by optical resonances
    (Washington : American Association for the Advancement of Science (A A A S), 2019) Yin, Y.; Wang, J.; Wang, X.; Li, S.; Jorgensen, M.R.; Ren, J.; Meng, S.; Ma, L.; Schmidt, O.G.
    The dynamic characterization of water multilayers on oxide surfaces is hard to achieve by currently available techniques. Despite this, there is an increasing interest in the evolution of water nanostructures on oxides to fully understand the complex dynamics of ice nucleation and growth in natural and artificial environments. Here, we report the in situ detection of the dynamic evolution of nanoscale water layers on an amorphous oxide surface probed by optical resonances. In the water nanolayer growth process, we find an initial nanocluster morphology that turns into a planar layer beyond a critical thickness. In the reverse process, the planar water film converts to nanoclusters, accompanied by a transition from a planar amorphous layer to crystalline nanoclusters. Our results are explained by a simple thermodynamic model as well as kinetic considerations. Our work represents an approach to reveal the nanostructure and dynamics at the water-oxide interface using resonant light probing.