title: The Pancharatnam-Berry phase for non-cyclic polarization changes.
abstract: We present a novel setup that allows the observation of the geometric phase that accompanies polarization changes in monochromatic light beams for which the initial and final states are different (so-called non-cyclic changes). This Pancharatnam-Berry phase can depend in a linear or in a nonlinear fashion on the orientation of the optical elements, and sometimes the dependence is singular. Experimental results that confirm these three types of behavior are presented. The observed singular behavior may be applied in the design of optical switches.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, and Laser Centre, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. t.d.visser@tudelft.nl
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: van Dijk
authors.forename: Hugo F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Schouten
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ubachs
authors.forename: Taco D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Visser
mesh_terms: D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis / Q000379:methods; D008027:Light; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D012542:Scattering, Radiation