Breaking the diffraction limit in far field by planar metalens

正Optical lens is of fundamental importance in both scientific researches and industrial communities,especially for the aspects of optical focusing and imaging.In traditional optics,the light modulation property is limited by the Rayleigh Criterion(0.61λ/NA),and therefore the development of an ideal lens that produces sub-diffraction limit focusing and imaging has been a dream of lens makers all the time.Intensive effort     

Beyond the Rayleigh criterion: grating assisted far-field optical diffraction tomography

We propose an optical imaging system, in which both illumination and collection are done in far field, that presents a power of resolution better than one-tenth of the wavelength. This is achieved by depositing the sample on a periodically nanostructured substrate illuminated under various angles of incidence. The superresolution is due to the high spatial frequencies of the field illuminating the sample and to the use of an inversion algorithm for reconstructing the map of relative permittivity from the diffracted far field. Thus, we are able to obtain wide-field images with near-field resolution without scanning a probe in the vicinity of the sample.     

Breaking the diffraction barrier in fluorescence microscopy by optical shelving

We report the breaking of the diffraction resolution barrier in far-field fluorescence microscopy by transiently shelving the fluorophore in a metastable dark state. Using a relatively modest light intensity of several kW/cm(2) in a focal distribution featuring a local zero, we confine the fluorescence emission to a spot whose diameter is a fraction of the wavelength of light. Nanoscale far-field optical resolution down to 50 nm is demonstrated by imaging microtubules in a mammalian cell and proteins on the plasma membrane of a neuron. The presence of dark states in virtually any fluorescent molecule opens up a new venue for far-field microscopy with resolution that is no longer limited by diffraction.     

Quantum lithography beyond the diffraction limit via Rabi oscillations

We propose a quantum optical method to do the subwavelength lithography. Our method is similar to the traditional lithography but adding a critical step before dissociating the chemical bound of the photoresist. The subwavelength pattern is achieved by inducing the multi-Rabi oscillation between the two atomic levels. The proposed method does not require multiphoton absorption and the entanglement of photons. It is expected to be realizable using current technology.     

Poled polymer thin-film gratings studied with far-field optical diffraction and second-harmonic near-field microscopy

Electrical poling induces polar ordering of molecules in a grating that has been holographically inscribed on a thin film of polymer with azobenzene side chains. The resulting chi2 grating, seen by second-harmonic-generation (SHG) near-field scanning optical microscopy, can have a periodic structure that is significantly different from the topographical image. The far-field linear and SHG diffration patterns correlate well with the grating structures. Poling of the thin-film grating, which presumably has photodriven nonuniform material properties within each period, leads to the more complex structure of the chi2 grating.     

Intermolecular interactions and correlation between optical transitions in different molecules

An exact treatment of the interaction-induced correlations between optical transitions in different molecules is presented. In a pure fluid (or in its buffer solution), the correlation terms are found to be additive with the conventional relaxation matrix elements. Same projection approach is used to study similar effects for molecules belonging to different species a and b. An exact solution derived for binary mixtures is used to analyze the cross (ab)-terms in the case of two-line mixing. At the binary collision regime, new spectral features of higher orders in density may appear due to the intermolecular optical transition coherence.     

Localized surface plasmon polaritons and nonlinear overcoming of the diffraction optical limit

Experimental results on the formation of ordered structures on the surface and in the near-surface layer of condensed media under the action of linearly polarized laser radiation pulses are analyzed. The formation of subdiffraction nanostructure gratings with anomalous orientation is discussed in the context of the universal polariton model. A physical model of the formation of anomalous structure gratings with periods much less than the laser radiation wavelength is proposed and experimentally verified. The model is based on excitation and mutual interference of channel (wedge) surface plasmon polaritons.     

Three‐dimensional optical laser lithography beyond the diffraction limit

Direct laser writing has become a versatile and routine tool for the mask‐free fabrication of polymer structures with lateral linewidths down to less than 100 nm. In contrast to its planar counterpart, electron‐beam lithography, direct laser writing also allows for the making of three‐dimensional structures. However, its spatial resolution has been restricted by diffraction. Clearly, linewidths and resolutions on the scale of few tens of nanometers and below are highly desirable for various applications in nanotechnology. In visible‐light far‐field fluorescence microscopy, the concept of stimulated emission depletion (STED) introduced in 1994 has led to spectacular record resolutions down to 5.6 nm in 2009. This review addresses approaches aiming at translating this success in optical microscopy to optical lithography. After explaining basic principles and limitations, possible depletion mechanisms and recent lithography experiments by various groups are summarized. Today, Abbe's diffraction barrier as well as the generalized two‐photon Sparrow criterion have been broken in far‐field optical lithography. For further future progress in resolution, the development of novel tailored photoresists in combination with attractive laser sources is of utmost importance.     

Breaking the limit of maximum effective area for robust single-mode propagation in optical fibers

We propose and demonstrate a novel approach in optical fiber design in which the optical waveguide is formed by a ring of large air holes surrounding a solid silica core. With an appropriate choice of the geometrical configuration, robust single-transverse-mode propagation with a record effective area of 1417 microm2, verified by various methods, was demonstrated. A breakthrough was made toward the development of practical ultra-high-power fiber lasers as we observed negligible loss of the fiber at bending diameters as small as 15 cm.     

Quantum interferometric optical lithography: exploiting entanglement to beat the diffraction limit

Classical optical lithography is diffraction limited to writing features of a size lambda/2 or greater, where lambda is the optical wavelength. Using nonclassical photon-number states, entangled N at a time, we show that it is possible to write features of minimum size lambda/(2N) in an N-photon absorbing substrate. This result allows one to write a factor of N2 more elements on a semiconductor chip. A factor of N = 2 can be achieved easily with entangled photon pairs generated from optical parametric down-conversion. It is shown how to write arbitrary 2D patterns by using this method.     

One atom in an optical cavity: Spatial resolution beyond the standard diffraction limit

The position of a slow atom passing through a standing-wave light field in an ultrahigh-finesse optical resonator can be measured by observing either the intensity of the light transmitted through the cavity or its phase. Apart from the periodicity of the standing wave, both techniques allow to determine the position of the particle with a resolution much better than the standard classical diffraction limit /2. Position measurements with uncertainty </20 seem to be possible with all-optical techniques.These notes were prepared to celebrate H. Walther's 60th birthday and to honour his pioneering contributions to some of the most lively fields of quantum optics     

Bound-free transitions and the dissociation limit

Following a sequential two-photon excitation, fluorescence is observed from several selectively excited single rotational-vibrational energy levels of theE ³ π0 _g ⁺ state of molecular iodine. The re-emittedE →B fluorescence spectrum from each of the populated rovibrational level of theE state consists of a series of sharp lines terminating on the various discrete ro-vibrational levels of theB state and a few broad lines due to transitions taking place on to the continuum of theB state. The point of transition from sharp lines to broad features in the fluorescence spectrum has been utilized to determine theB state dissociation limit. This method of obtaining the dissociation limit of the molecular electronic states appears to be quite simple and straightforward.     

Resonance-enhanced optical reorientation of molecules in liquids via intermolecular interaction

Enhanced optical reorientation of molecules in a pure liquid was observed when the optical field was in resonance with the molecular electronic transition. The enhancement comes from photoinduced change in intermolecular interaction. Experimental results agree well with the time-dependent theory based on a mean-field model of intermolecular interaction.     

Investigation of the phase transitions of ferroelectric KIO3 and KNbO3 crystals by optical diffraction

Optical diffraction is reviewed as a technique for investigation of the phase transitions in crystals with a multidomain structure. It has been used to study the phase transitions in KIO₃ and KNbO₃ single crystals. Strong optical diffraction bands resulted from electric domains in KNbO₃ crystals and their change with temperature were observed when a laser beam passed through the crystals. The diffraction patterns observed changed abruptly at 427°C, 223°C, and -50°C respectively, at which KNbO₃ crystals undergo structural phase transitions. It is considered that the change of the diffraction patterns with temperature is due to change of the electric domains in the crystals.     

Investigating the grain structure of Cu-Al and Cu-Mn alloys via electron backscatter diffraction and optical metallography

Parameters of grain-boundary ensembles of Cu-Al and Cu-Mn solid solutions are analyzed quantitatively by optical metallography and scanning electron microscopy with the use of backscattering electron diffraction. It is established by both methods that the fraction of all special boundaries in a grain boundary ensemble and the fraction of twin boundaries Σ3 in the spectrum of special boundaries increase as the tacking fault energy in substitutional solid solutions diminishes.     

Tunable spatial-frequency-shift 3D nanoscopy with chip compatibility overcomes the diffraction limit of the linear optical imaging system

正The superresolution microscopy that broadens the detection range in the spatial frequency domain through the spatialfrequency-shift (SFS) effect [1-5] shows intriguing advantages including a large field of view, high speed, and good modularity. Significantly, it captures pictures in the wide-field mode and allows a universal implementation without using special fluorophores labeling.     

Dynamic diffraction and interband transitions in two-dimensional photonic lattices

We reveal a direct link between two fundamental wave phenomena in periodic media, Pendell?sung oscillations and resonant coupling between spectral bands. We experimentally measure the power transfer between laser beams associated with the high-symmetry points in periodic and biased hexagonal photonic lattices. As a result, we demonstrate that Pendell?sung oscillations dominate the dynamics of resonant interband transitions on a short propagation scale.