Local infrared microspectroscopy with subwavelength spatial resolution with an atomic force microscope tip used as a photothermal sensor

We describe a new method of infrared microspectroscopy. It is intended for performing chemical mapping of various objects with subwavelength lateral resolution by using the infrared vibrational signature characterizing different molecular species. We use the photothermal expansion effect, detected by an atomic force microscope tip, probing the local transient deformation induced by an infrared pulsed laser tuned at a sample absorbing wavelength. We show that this new tool opens the way for measuring and identifying spectroscopic contrasts not accessible by far-field or near-field optical methods and with a subwavelength lateral resolution.     

基于一维金属光子晶体平凹镜的柱矢量光束亚波长聚焦

柱矢量光束具有柱对称性的偏振分布,其独特的光场分布和聚焦特性被广泛应用于光学微操纵及光学成像等领域,并迅速向亚波长尺度拓展.通常,亚波长尺度聚焦采用等离激元透镜实现,但存在光场调控的偏振态局限性.而借助光子晶体的负折射效应,不仅能够实现亚波长聚焦或成像,而且应对正交偏振态同时有效.采用对电磁波具有更强调控能力的一维金属光子晶体结构,计算得到的能带结构和等频曲线表明其负折射效应在特定波段对正交偏振态同时有效.在此基础上设计出一维金属光子晶体柱对称平凹镜结构,通过有限元算法模拟显示了可见光波段的径向和旋向偏振光的同时亚波长聚焦行为.进一步的结果表明,改变柱矢量光束的偏振组分能够直接有效地调节焦场空间分布及偏振分布特性.所提出的平凹镜结构能够实现对任意偏振组分的柱矢量光束的亚波长尺度聚焦,且该结构的设计对于各波段情况均有参考意义.该研究结果对小尺度粒子的光学微操纵、超分辨率成像等相关领域具有潜在的应用价值.     

Detection of subwavelength slit-width variation with irradiance measurements in the far field

We demonstrate that, under suitable conditions, subwavelength feature variations of an object can affect the corresponding far-field diffraction pattern in a measurable way. We present an experiment in which width variations of less than 1/100 of the wavelength are measured with a slit whose width is 100 times the wavelength. Integral and differential intensity measurements in the far field are fully consistent with standard diffraction theory even in the subwavelength variation regime. In particular, slit modulations of 6 nm with a wavelength of 670 nm are shown to follow theoretical calculations within the experimental sensitivity of ~10(-5) .     

金膜上亚波长小孔阵列表面等离激元颜色滤波器偏振性质

金属薄膜上制备的表面等离激元颜色滤波器具有很强的颜色可调性. 在200 nm厚的金膜上, 通过聚焦离子束刻蚀, 制备一系列周期逐渐变化的圆形、方形、矩形亚波长尺寸小孔方阵列表面等离激元颜色滤波器, 改变入射光的偏振方向, 观察其超透射滤波现象. 研究发现: 对于矩形小孔阵列, 其透射光颜色随入射光偏振方向的变化而改变; 而对于圆形、方形的小孔阵列, 其透射光颜色对入射光的偏振方向并不敏感. 分析表明, 对于金膜上刻蚀的小孔结构, 虽然结构的周期性导致的表面等离激元极化子会对透射光的颜色变化产生一定影响, 但是随小孔形状变化的局域表面等离激元共振才是影响透射光颜色的决定性因素. 如果入射光没有在小孔中激发出局域表面等离激元, 则表面等离激元极化子对透射光的影响也会消失. 根据不同形状小孔周期结构透射光颜色随入射光的偏振变化特点, 制备出了包含两种小孔形状的复合周期结构. 随着入射光偏振方向的改变, 该结构会显示出不同的颜色图案. 关键词： 表面等离激元极化子 局域表面等离激元 颜色滤波器 亚波长小孔阵列     

Circular dichroism in the optical second-harmonic emission of curved gold metal nanowires

Here we report the experimental observation of circular dichroism in the second-harmonic field (800-400 nm conversion) generated by self-organized gold nanowire arrays with subwavelength periodicity (160 nm). Such circular dichroism, raised by a nonlinear optical extrinsic chirality, is the evident signature of the sample morphology. It arises from the curvature of the self-assembled wires, producing a lack of symmetry at oblique incidence. The results were compared, both in the optical linear and nonlinear regime, with a reference sample composed of straight wires. Despite the weak extrinsic optical chirality of our samples (not observable by our optical linear measurements), high visibility (more than 50%) was obtained in the second-harmonic generated field.     

Enhancement of light extraction from freestanding GaN nanocolumn slab with bottom subwavelength nanostructures

It is of great interest to investigate a freestanding GaN nanocolumn slab with bottom subwavelength nanostructures. A low-index buffer layer offers more paths accessible to emit light in air, and the nanostructures break the total internal reflection condition at the bottom surface to improve the light-extraction efficiency. The GaN nanocolumns and subwavelength nanostructures can also effectively suppress optical reflection over a broad wavelength range. In this work, the freestanding GaN nanocolumn slabs with bottom subwavelength nanostructures are implemented with a diameter of 1200 μm by a combination of self-assembly technique, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, manufacturing of silicon, and epitaxial growth of GaN. Reflectance results experimentally show that optical reflection is greatly reduced by introducing the GaN nanocolumns and subwavelength nanostructures, and photoluminescence measurements demonstrate that the extracted light is significantly enhanced with the assistance of the low-index buffer layer and bottom subwavelength nanostructures.     

一种亚波长偏振分波/合波器的研制

针对传统偏振分束器窄波段、窄角度范围的不足,研制了一种在宽波段宽角度范围内具有180°分光功能的偏振分束器/耦合器。该器件基于线栅偏振器和亚波长光栅结构原理设计,利用半导体工艺的刻蚀技术制作。利用一维金属线栅对入射电磁波的偏振响应和亚波长光栅仅存在零级衍射的特性,实现了较宽的通带宽度与可接受角度范围、极大的分光角度、高消光比和低插入损耗。实验测得透射、反射消光比均大于20 dB,插入损耗小于0.5dB。通过自行搭建的微结构测试平台,测量了p、s光的透射率、反射率随入射角度变化的曲线,和严格耦合波理论模拟结果符合。深入分析了制作中的过刻蚀对性能产生的影响。     

The localized near-field enhancement of metallic periodic bowtie structure: An oscillating dipoles picture

The metallic periodic bowtie structure is systematically investigated using a three-dimensional finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The oscillating dipoles picture is proposed to explain the novel enhancement of localized near-field. It is indicated that the shift and the intensity change of notable resonant dips in the transmission spectrum result from the variation of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) conditions due to the different geometrical sizes of the structure and the array periodicity. The results are helpful for guiding the bowtie structures to the application of the near-field imaging and sensing in the subwavelength optics.     

一维亚波长周期结构物成像的光子学研究

当用波长为λ的单色平行光垂直照射到光栅常数d<λ的亚波长周期结构衍射物时,会产生隐失波。由于快速衰减,这种亚波长周期物是不能成像的。但是,通过对亚波长周期结构物进行适当的编码后可得到均匀波,使这种携带了隐失波信息的均匀波通过经特别设计的光学系统并被放大到CCD所能识别的像素大小后,再进行必要的解码以滤掉编码波,即可得到原亚波长周期结构衍射物的像,最终达到超分辨的目的。基于这种新颖的成像技术,用常规仪器就实现了对亚波长周期结构物的成像。在运用光子学方法对实验和成像过程进行较为详尽的理论分析的同时,对编码器、解码器的位置以及它们相对物光栅的取向给出了设计性研究,对滤波器的选择给予了必要的说明。实验结果验证了该设计理论的正确性。     

Numerical Evaluation of Polarization-Selective Characteristics of a Binary Relief Grating with Subwavelength Structures

The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is applied to the numerical evaluation of diffraction from a binary relief grating with subwavelength structures. It is demonstrated numerically that the binary relief grating made of isotropic materials works as a polarization selective optical device. It is further shown that the polarization effects depend on the arrangements of subwavelength structures.     

亚波长衍射微透镜的设计

设计了连续浮雕衍射微透镜和与其等效的二元亚波长衍射微透镜,采用旋转体时域有限差分法对通过计算机辅助设计出的元件进行了严格的矢量分析,给出了各元件在焦平面的场强分布.分析结果表明,本文设计的二元亚波长微透镜对连续浮雕微透镜有很好的等效效果;填充因子的脉冲宽度调制法要优于填充因子的线性近似法;制作相对误差不大时深度误差和宽度误差对微透镜聚光能力的影响不大.     

Three-dimensional subwavelength imaging by a photonic-crystal flat lens using negative refraction at microwave frequencies

We experimentally demonstrate subwavelength resolution imaging at microwave frequencies by a three-dimensional (3D) photonic-crystal flat lens using full 3D negative refraction. The photonic crystal was fabricated in a layer-by-layer process. A subwavelength pinhole source and a dipole detector were employed for the measurement. By point-by-point scanning, we obtained the image of the pinhole source shown in both amplitude and phase, which demonstrated the imaging mechanism and subwavelength feature size in all three dimensions. An image of two pinhole sources with subwavelength spacing showed two resolved spots, which further verified subwavelength resolution.     

Multiband Terahertz Photonic Band Gaps of Subwavelength Planar Fractals

Optical transmission properties of subwavelength planar fractals in terahertz （THz） frequency regime are studied by means of time-domain spectroscopy. The transmission spectra with multiple pass bands and stop bands are observed. The tunable photonic band gaps are realized by changing the angle between the principle axis of planar fractal and the polarization of THz wave. The possible application of the subwavelength optical component is discussed. We attribute the detected transmittance from subwavelength fractals to localized resonances.     

一维光子晶体中亚波长缺陷膜对Goos-Hnchen位移的调制特性

      利用传输矩阵法分析一维光子晶体中亚波长缺陷膜对缺陷模频率处Goos-Hnchen位移的调制特性,讨论了亚波长缺陷膜的厚度、磁导率及介电常量对一维光子晶体缺陷模频率处的Goos-Hnchen位移的影响.研究发现：一层几何厚度极小的亚波长薄膜即可非常灵敏地调制一维光子晶体缺陷模频率处Goos-Hnchen位移的位置及其大小;并且当亚波长缺陷膜为左手材料时,Goos-Hnchen位移随亚波长缺陷膜物理参量的变化趋势与普通右手材料时的情形完全相反.     

基于超材料的中波红外宽带偏振转换研究

基于硅纳米块阵列和亚波长金属光栅,硅纳米块长轴与金属光栅夹角为45°,本文设计了一种高效、宽带偏振转换结构.模拟计算表明该结构实现了线偏振光90°旋转,在3.4—4.5μm波段偏振转换率大于60%,在3—5μm光谱范围内的转换对比率大于10~4.由于该结构光学性能优异,制备难度低,可以应用于光传输控制.     

空间盘绕型声学超材料的亚波长拓扑谷自旋态

声子晶体的Dirac线性色散关系,使其具有奇特的声拓扑特性,在声波控制领域具有良好的应用前景.目前,声子晶体的拓扑边缘态主要基于Bragg散射所产生的能带结构,难以实现低频声波的受拓扑保护单向边缘传输.本文引入空间盘绕结构,设计了具有C_(3v)对称性的空间盘绕型声学超材料,并研究其布里渊区高对称点(K/K'点)的亚波长Dirac锥形线性色散.接着,通过旋转打破空间盘绕型声学超材料的镜像对称性,使其Dirac简并锥裂开而产生亚波长拓扑相变和亚波长拓扑谷自旋态.最后,采用拓扑相位互逆的声学超材料构造拓扑界面,实现声拓扑谷自旋传输.空间盘绕型声学超材料的亚波长Dirac线性色散与亚波长拓扑谷自旋态突破了声子拓扑绝缘体的几何尺寸限制,为声拓扑稳健传输在低频段的应用提供理论基础.     

Enhancing light extraction from tapered internal reflection microstructure

The internal transmittance characteristics of the taper surface microstructure grating with the feature size in a large dimension range from subwavelength nanostructure to microstructure are investigated to improve the light extraction efficiency of light emitting diodes. It is found that subwavelength taper nanostructure can not overcome the total internal reflection, but it is interesting that the taper microstructure can effectively surmount the total internal reflection at a larger emitted angle over the critical angle also with higher transmittance. Besides, the emission characteristics of light intensity for subwavelength nano-grating and taper micro-grating are demonstrated. Also, the simple approaches of the scalar diffraction theory and the effective medium method can accurately analyze respectively the taper microstructure and subwavelength nanostructure grating. It is expected that the taper microstructure could be integrated into light emitting diodes to tremendously enhance the emission efficiency.     

Ability and Limitation of Effective Medium Theory for Subwavelength Gratings

In the recent researches of subwavelength relief gratings, the effective refractive indices are used for calculating the coefficients of reflection and transmission of light waves. The effective refractive indices are given by the effective medium theory for light waves propagating in a bulky stratified medium. This paper describes the ability and limitation of the theory applied to estimate the performance of such subwavelength gratings. The limitation is revealed by numerical calculations using a rigorous electromagnetic grating theory and the effective medium theory. As a result, an understanding of the wave behavior in the subwavelength grating has been acquired, which explains the limitation of the effective medium theory.     

Area-coded effective medium structures, a new type of grating design

We propose a new way to design gratings with desired diffraction properties by using subwavelength feature sizes perpendicular to the ordinary superwavelength grating period. This is different from well-known one-dimensional binary-blazed gratings that use a structuring along the grating period and thus opens new flexibility in generating arbitrary effective-index distributions in the direction of the grating period. Since the subwavelength features form contiguous areas, they are called area-coded effective medium structures (ACES). Compared with well-known binary subwavelength structures in two-dimensional arrangements consisting of pillars, ACES are more stable and have comparable efficiency properties. As an example we show how to design in principle a four-level area-coded effective medium grating, compare the efficiency of ACES with binary-blazed and échelette gratings, and optimize the subwavelength period of ACES.     

Quantum transport of a single photon through a subwavelength hole by a single atom

The localization and transport of a photon through a subwavelength hole with the help of a neutral atom are studied. A method proposed and realized in the study is based on the absorption of a photon by a neutral atom directly in front of a subwavelength hole, the flight of the atom through the hole, and photon emission on the other side of the screen. The influence of the interaction of the excited atom flying through the subwavelength channel with the screen material is estimated. The estimate showed that the atomic excitation can be quenched in holes with diameters smaller than 200 nm, which affects the photon transport efficiency.