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  • Open Access

Circular Huygens dipoles: Unidirectional spin-angular momentum from achiral nanoparticles

Esmaeel Zanganeh1,* and Antonio Lombardo1,2

  • *Contact author: esmaeelzanganeh@gmail.com
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Phys. Rev. B 114, 185415 – Published 11 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/t16y-3mf9

Abstract

Simultaneous control over the directionality and spin of light at the nanoscale is a central goal in nanophotonics with applications ranging from quantum information to advanced biosensing. We introduce the concept of the Circular Huygens dipole and numerically demonstrate its realization in a single Si nanocuboid. We show that the polarization of an incident linear wave controls the interference between colocated circular electric and magnetic dipoles excited in phase quadrature. This enables deterministic switching of the forward-scattered radiation between purely right- and left-circularly polarized states. The system also functions as a directional spin-to-linear polarization converter. Our findings establish a robust, passive method for reconfigurable spin-directional control in a simple, monolithic silicon nanostructure, opening avenues for chip-scale spin optics, chiral quantum interfaces, and novel sensing platforms.

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Phys. Rev. B 114, 185415– Published 11 September, 2026
  • Received 25 October 2025
  • Revised 2 June 2026
  • Accepted 29 July 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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