Spatial evolution of polarization in the spin Hall effect of light on reflection

In the previous works the spin Hall effect (SHE) of light was usually detected by the quantum weak measurement technique in which the complete information of the field was lost. In this work, we investigate the spatial evolution of the whole field in the SHE of light on reflection. First, we establish a model to describe the polarization state of reflected light and disclose its relationship with the SHE. Then, it is found that the reflected polarization generally becomes a vector field. The SHE due to the polarization gradient is manifested as a spin-dependent splitting. Further, it is found that both the incident angle and the incident polarization can affect the polarization of reflected light noticeably. Finally, the evolution of the energy flow is analyzed to disclose the underlying physical mechanism.