Observing angular deviations in light-beam reflection via weak measurements.

An optical analog of the quantum weak measurement scheme proved to be very useful for the observation of optical beam shifts. Here we adapt the weak value amplification method to the observation of the angular Goos-Hänchen shift. We observe this effect in the case of external air-dielectric reflection, the more fundamental case in which it occurs. We show that weak measurements allow for a faithful amplification of the effect at any angle of incidence, even at Brewster's angle of incidence.

Observation of the Imbert-Fedorov effect via weak value amplification.

Weak measurements have recently allowed for the observation of the spin-Hall effect of light in reflection or transmission, which is a spin-dependent light beam shift orthogonal to the plane of incidence. We report here the observation of the Imbert-Fedorov (IF) shift via a weak value amplification scheme. The IF effect does not depend on the spin of the incident photon only, but it has richer polarization dependence. We prove that weak measurements allow for a complete experimental characterization of the polarization properties of this tiny optical effect.

Weak measurement of the Goos-Hänchen shift.

It is well known from quantum mechanics that weak measurements offer a means of amplifying and detecting very small phenomena. We present here the experimental observation of the Goos-Hänchen shift via a weak measurement approach.