Quantum mechanics

Mean curvature

Engineering

Curvature

Materials science

Computer security

Rayleigh length

RADIUS

Computer science

Wavelength

Photonic crystal

Photonics

Mechanical engineering

Laser

Physics

Dielectric

Laser beams

Radius of curvature

Cuboid

Mathematics

Optics

Electromagnetic field

Hook

Geometry

Mean curvature flow

Electromagnetic radiation

Structural engineering

Symmetry (geometry)

Optoelectronics

Applied Physics Letters

In this letter, we report the first experimental observation of a photonic hook - a new type of near field curved light generated at the output of dielectric cuboid with broken symmetry having dimensions comparable to the electromagnetic wavelength. The radius of curvature associated with the generated photonic hook is smaller than the wavelength used while its minimum beam-waist is about 0.44 lamda. This represents the smallest radius of curvature ever recorded for any alectromagnetic beams.

Experimental observation of a photonic hook