Topological control of chirality and spin with structured light

Structured light beams with engineered topological properties offer a powerful means to control spin angular momentum (SAM) and optical chirality, key quantities shaped by spin-orbit interaction (SOI) in light. Such effects are commonly associated with non-paraxial focusing or light-matter interfaces. Here, we demonstrate that higher-order Poincaré modes carrying a tunable Pancharatnam topological charge ℓp enable deterministic control of SOI entirely in free space and within the paraxial regime. We show that modulation of ℓp drives a measurable radial separation of circular polarization components - a free-space optical Hall effect arising from propagation-induced mechanisms alone. The effect originates from differential Gouy-phase evolution and radial divergence between the two circular components of an initially spin-balanced vector beam. This identifies ℓp as a single, tunable parameter linking Pancharatnam topology to paraxial spin-orbit coupling, establishing a simple and material-independent route to generate and control optical chirality and SAM. This approach provides new opportunities for tunable optical manipulation, chiral sensing, and high-dimensional photonic information processing. The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.