Generation of sub wavelength focal spot with large depth of focus generated by radially polarized beam

We investigate the focusing properties of a radially polarized Bessel Gaussian beam by a high numerical aperture (NA) lens based on vector diffraction theory. We observe that our proposed system generates a sub wavelength focal spot of 0.42λ having large uniform focal depth of 6.45λ. The authors expect such a long depth of focus have great potential for use in optical, biological, high-resolution and atmospheric sciences.     

Tight focusing of double ring shaped radially polarized beam with high NA lens axicon

A method is presented for generation of a sub wavelength (0.45λ) longitudinally polarized beam, which propagates without divergence over lengths of about 8λ in free space. This is achieved by tight focusing of double ring shaped radially polarized beam with a high NA lens axicon that utilizes spherical aberration to duplicate the performance of an axicon and to create an extended focal line. The intensity distributions were calculated based on the vector diffraction theory and it was observed that in the case of high numerical aperture (NA) lens axicon, the distribution of the total intensity near the focus had little effect on the degree of truncation of the incident beam by the pupil.     

Tight focus of an azimuthally polarized and amplitude-modulated annular multi-Gaussian beam

We investigate the focusing properties of an azimuthally polarized and amplitude modulated annular multi Gaussian beam by a high numerical aperture (NA) lens based on vector diffraction theory. We observe that our proposed system generates a subwavelength focal hole of 0.46λ having large uniform focal depth of 36λ without any annular obstruction. This kind of nondiffracting focal hole is called dark channel, which may have applications in atom optical experiments, such as with atomic lenses, atom traps, and atom switches.     

Generation of multiple focal holes by tightly focused azimuthally polarized double-ring-shaped beam with complex phase mask

We study the focusing properties of a tight focusing of double ring shaped azimuthally polarized beam through complex phase mask (CPM) with high NA objective lens, based on vector diffraction theory. A novel design to generate an azimuthally polarized subwavelength focal hole having FWHM of 0.332λ with long focal depth of about 18.8λ is illustrated numerically. Apart from generating focal hole with long focal depth, it is observed that a properly designed CPM also generates multiple focal hole segments useful for laser cutting, microscopy and the manipulation of optical traps of low refractive index particles.     

Generation and tight-focusing properties of cylindrical vector circular Airy beams

Tight-focusing properties of cylindrical vector circular Airy beams [i.e., azimuthally polarized (AP) circular Airy beam and radially polarized (RP) circular Airy beam] passing through a high numerical aperture thin lens are investigated in detail. It is found that a super long subwavelength dark channel with full width at half maximum about 0.49λ and depth of focus (DOF) about 52λ can be achieved near the focal region for the case of tight focusing of an AP circular Airy beam, and a super long needle with DOF about 27.5λ of strong longitudinally polarized field can be obtained near the focal region for the case of tight focusing of a RP circular Airy beam. Furthermore, we report experimental generation of an AP circular Airy. Our results will be useful for atom guiding and trapping, particle acceleration and fluorescent imaging.     

Tight focusing of J0-correlated Gaussian Schell-model beam through high numerical aperture

Based on the vectorial Debye diffraction theory, the tight focusing of a linearly polarized J₀-correlated Gaussian Schell-model (JGSM) beam through high numerical aperture (NA) is investigated. The components of intensity distributions as well as the 3D degree of polarization of light at the focal plane are depicted by numerical integrations, respectively. It is shown that intensity distributions as well as the degree of polarization of focused field not only strongly depend on the global correlation length of the JGSM beam but also relate to the focusing parameter of NA. It is also indicated that the weight of the longitudinal intensity component would enhance in the focal plane, as long as either the correlation length of the JGSM beam or the focusing parameter of NA increases.     

Sharper focal spot below λ/4 of azimuthally polarized illumination phase-encoded by the binary 0/π phase plate

The intensity distribution in the focal region for the azimuthally polarized beam phase-encoded by the binary 0/π phase plate is calculated on the basis of the vector diffraction theory. With the annular pupil aperture employed, the resolution of the focal spot will be improved remarkably. We demonstrate a sharper focal spot with full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 0.223λ (below λ/4), significantly smaller that of linear, circular and radial polarization beam under the same condition. The focusing phenomena for illumination beam with various polarization status and beam shapes are analyzed explicitly. This analysis could have potential applications in confocal microscopy and two-photo microscopy for polarization difference imaging.     

Radiation force exerted on nanometer size non-resonant Kerr particle by a tightly focused Gaussian beam

We calculate the radiation force that is exerted by a focused continuous-wave Gaussian beam of wavelength λ on a non-absorbing nonlinear particle of radius a ? 50λ/π. The refractive index of the mechanically-rigid particle is proportional to the incident intensity according to the electro-optic Kerr effect. The force consists of two components representing the contributions of the electromagnetic field gradient and the light scattered by the Kerr particle. The focused intensity distribution is determined using expressions for the six electromagnetic components that are corrected to the fifth order in the numerical aperture (NA) of the focusing objective lens. We found that for particles with a < λ/21.28, the trapping force is dominated by the gradient force and the axial trapping force is symmetric about the geometrical focus. The two contributions are comparable with larger particles and the axial trapping force becomes asymmetric with its zero location displaced away from the focus and towards the beam propagation direction. We study the trapping force behavior versus incident beam power, NA, λ, and relative refractive index between the surrounding liquid and the particle. We also examine the confinement of a Kerr particle that exhibits Brownian motion in a focused beam. Numerical results show that the Kerr effect increases the trapping force strength and significantly improves the confinement of Brownian particles.     

Focusing a beam beyond the diffraction limit using a hyperlens-based device

A super-focusing device composed of a focusing objective and a hyperlens is proposed to focus an incident plane wave into the deep subwavelength dimension. In the device, the objective converts the incident plane wave into a convergent one. The half cylindrical hyperlens can support high wave vector k modes propagating towards its core. So the convergent wave can be focused into an ultrasmall spot beyond the diffraction limit. The layout is proposed for the super-focusing device and its characteristics are investigated theoretically. Numerical simulations verify that the focused beams are confined in a spot with a diameter of 16.3 nm in the focal plane of the focusing objective with a numerical aperture of 0.6, which corresponds to a super-resolution spot of λ₀/23 (λ₀ is the wavelength in vacuum). The simulations confirm the effectiveness of the proposed device.     

Tightly focusing of spirally polarized Quadratic Bessel Gaussian beam through a dielectric interface

Based on vector diffraction theory, the tight focusing properties of spirally polarized axisymmetric Bessel-modulated Gaussian beam through a dielectric interface on high numerical aperture (NA) are investigated theoretically. The optical intensity distribution in the focal region of high NA objective lens is investigated in detail by numerical calculations. The results show that the focal shift induced in the focal region is by mismatch of refractive indices across the dielectric interface. It is also found that the optical intensity in focal region of spirally polarized Quadratic Bessel Gaussian (QBG) beam can be altered considerably by changing spiral parameter C that indicates the polarization spiral degree of the incident beam.     

Extending the depth of focus with high NA lens axicon

Based on vectorial Debye theory, tight focusing of x-polarized beam with high NA lens axicon is studied. The high NA lens axicon utilizes spherical aberration to duplicate the performance of an axicon and to create an extended focal line. The intensity distribution in the focal region is illustrated by numerical calculations. We show that the high NA lens axicon system can generates a sub wavelength beam (0.826λ) with depth of focus around 10λ.     

Effect of complex phase plate on tight focusing of azimuthally polarized double ring shaped beam

Based on the vector diffraction theory, the effect of complex phase plate on the intensity distribution of TEM₁₁ mode azimuthally polarized Laguerre–Gaussian beam in the focal region of high NA lens is investigated theoretically. It is observed that a properly designed complex phase plate can generate a subwavelength focal hole having FWHM of 0.332λ with an extended focal depth of 54.4λ. We also observe that by using properly designed complex phase plate generates novel focal patterns including splitting of focal holes and multi focus are obtained. The author expects such investigation is worthwhile for optical manipulation and material processing technologies.     

Tight focusing of circularly polarized beam over high NA lens axicon with a diffractive optical element

We propose to use diffractive optical element in combination with high NA lens axicon to achieve a high depth of focus when illuminated by a circularly polarized beam. With this kind of system, the focal depth is increased to 12.816λ and the magnetic spot size is reduced to 0.3764λ. However, in the conventional lens with same NA, the FWHM of the magnetic spot is found to be 0.4308λ and its corresponding magnetization depth is only 0.888λ. The author expects that such a high focal depth strong longitudinal magnetic field with large magnetization depth can be widely used in high density magneto optic recording, laser machining, laser cutting and the scanning near-field magnetic microscope.     

J0相干角向偏振涡旋光束的深聚焦

通过矢量德拜理论,研究了J0相干角向偏振涡旋光束深聚焦的性质。推导了在焦点区域的光强分布、光谱相干度和偏振度的表达式。数值模拟结果表明,光强分布、相干度和偏振度不仅依赖于相干长度和数值孔径最大角,而且依赖于拓扑电荷数。这种光束在焦平面还可获得非常小的焦点和焦洞。     

Intensity control of the focal spot by vectorial beam shaping

A vectorial beam shaping algorithm is presented for the design of a phase-only diffractive optical element to achieve a given target intensity profile in the focal plane under tight focusing conditions. The underlying iterative optimization scheme is based on the Richards-Wolf vectorial diffraction theory and the Gerchberg-Saxton method, and is suitable for an arbitrary incoming polarization distribution, since only the magnitudes of the field vectors in the focal plane are reshaped. The efficiency of the method is numerically demonstrated for flat-top beam shaping examples of linear and circular incoming beam polarizations and square and circular flat-top region shape. A diffraction efficiency of 97.1% and a uniformity error of 4.8% were achieved in the case of focusing a Gaussian input beam onto a 50λ × 50λ square flat-top region with a 1.4-NA lens.     

The focusing property of vector Bessel-Gauss beams by a high numerical aperture objective

The rich available transverse intensity structure of vector Bessel-Gauss beams make it important to probe into the focusing property by high numerical aperture objective. In this paper, we obtain the analytical expressions of azimuthally, radially and longitudinally polarized components in the focal area of the objective after tight focusing. Theoretical analysis and the numerical simulation show that, the transverse intensity distributions of the focused beams still have doughnut-like structure, two separate peak structure and circularly aligned array structure. The focused beam spots obtained by an objective with annular aperture usually have smaller spots than with circular aperture. The focused beam of the vector Bessel-Gauss beam with lowest mode number m = 0 is a radially and azimuthally polarized doughnut-like beam with no longitudinal component. These properties and results are useful in optical trapping and particle alignment.     

Tight focusing of partially polarized vortex beams by binary phase Fresnel zone plates

Based on vectorial Debye theory, the focusing properties of partially polarized vortex beam by high numerical aperture Fresnel zone plate are investigated. The effects of the numerical apertures of and the phase difference of binary phase Fresnel zone plates, the topological charge of vortex beam and the degree of polarization of incident beam on the intensity distribution and degree of coherence in the focal plane are investigated in detail. It is shown that elliptical light spots and the flat top beam can be obtained by selecting certain parameters. Studies of degree of coherence reveal that the degree of coherence between x and y components of the electric field, which is zero in the source plane, is improved in the focal plane for vortex beam, but it is hardly changed for the nonvortex beam. It is also proved that any two of the three electric field components E_x, E_y and E_z are completely coherent everywhere in the focal region if the incident light beam is linearly polarized.     

Study on polarization effect of azimuthally polarized LG beam in high NA Lens system

Based on vector diffraction theory, the intensity distributions of azimuthally polarized double-ring-shaped higher order beams near the focus are calculated numerically. It is shown that a subwavelength focal hole with a quite long depth of focus, multiple focal holes are achieved near the focus, when tuning β (is the ratio of the pupil radius to the beam waist) in the focal plane for different modes under tight focusing through high NA lens. Such kind of beams plays an important role in optical trapping, laser cutting and optical manipulation applications.     

Experimental verification of focus tailoring using circularly polarized vortex beams with annular pupil mask

The focusing properties of circularly polarized vortex beam are experimentally verified by examining two-photon fluorescent emission patterns inside an fluorescent microsphere. Very good agreements between the experimental and theoretical results have been obtained. Annular pupil masks are used to tailor the profile at the focus. When an circularly polarized beam with the appropriate handedness is used in combination with an annular pupil aperture, a strong longitudinal component is observed, which results in a raised center and a smaller focal spot. This interesting focusing property can be utilized in applications that require a distinct longitudinal component.     

Formation of periodic surface nanostructures on Ti:Al2O3 crystals using femtosecond laser pulses

Periodic surface nanostructures are observed on Ti³⁺:Al₂O₃ single crystals that have been irradiated by a single focused beam from a femtosecond pulsed laser (wavelength: 800 nm; pulse duration: 130 and 152 fs). Atomic force microscopy images of single-ablated zones and modified structures created by fixing and translating samples through the focal region of a linearly polarized laser beam reveal self-organized periodic surface nanostructures (ripples) with a subwavelength spacing, which are oriented perpendicular to the electric-field vector of the laser beam. The period of the subwavelength ripples obtained by linearly polarized laser irradiation varies from ∼λ/5 to 2λ/5 (λ: incident laser wavelength) depending on the laser pulse energy. This phenomenon can be explained by assuming that the incident light field interferes with the electric field of electron plasma waves propagating inside the material; this interference periodically modulates the electron plasma density and modifies the surface ablation. In addition, for the first time, we observe screw-shaped nanostructures in the focal spot of circularly polarized beam irradiation. The morphology of these nanostructures appears to reflect the circular polarization of the laser light.