Optical superoscillation technologies beyond the diffraction limit
Optical superoscillation technologies beyond the diffraction limit
Optical superoscillations are rapid, subwavelength spatial variations of the intensity and phase of light, occurring in complex electromagnetic fields formed by the interference of several coherent waves. The discovery of superoscillations stimulated a revision of the limits of classical electromagnetism — in particular, the studies of phenomena such as unlimitedly small energy hotspots, phase singularities, energy backflow, anomalously high wavevectors and their intriguing similarities to the evanescent plasmonic fields on metals. In recent years, the understanding of superoscillatory light has led to the development of superoscillatory lensing, imaging and metrology technologies. Dielectric, metallic and metamaterial nanostructured superoscillatory lenses have been introduced that are able to create hotspots smaller than allowed by conventional lenses. Far-field, label-free, non-intrusive deeply subwavelength super-resolution imaging and metrology techniques that exploit high light localization and rapid variation of phase in superoscillatory fields have also been developed, including new approaches based on artificial intelligence. We review the fundamental properties of superoscillatory optical fields and examine emerging technological applications.
16–32
Zheludev, Nikolai I.
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
Yuan, Guanghui
d7af6f06-7da9-41ef-b7f9-cfe09e55fcaa
25 October 2021
Zheludev, Nikolai I.
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
Yuan, Guanghui
d7af6f06-7da9-41ef-b7f9-cfe09e55fcaa
Zheludev, Nikolai I. and Yuan, Guanghui
(2021)
Optical superoscillation technologies beyond the diffraction limit.
Nature Reviews Physics, 4, .
(doi:10.1038/s42254-021-00382-7).
Abstract
Optical superoscillations are rapid, subwavelength spatial variations of the intensity and phase of light, occurring in complex electromagnetic fields formed by the interference of several coherent waves. The discovery of superoscillations stimulated a revision of the limits of classical electromagnetism — in particular, the studies of phenomena such as unlimitedly small energy hotspots, phase singularities, energy backflow, anomalously high wavevectors and their intriguing similarities to the evanescent plasmonic fields on metals. In recent years, the understanding of superoscillatory light has led to the development of superoscillatory lensing, imaging and metrology technologies. Dielectric, metallic and metamaterial nanostructured superoscillatory lenses have been introduced that are able to create hotspots smaller than allowed by conventional lenses. Far-field, label-free, non-intrusive deeply subwavelength super-resolution imaging and metrology techniques that exploit high light localization and rapid variation of phase in superoscillatory fields have also been developed, including new approaches based on artificial intelligence. We review the fundamental properties of superoscillatory optical fields and examine emerging technological applications.
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Accepted/In Press date: 7 September 2021
Published date: 25 October 2021
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Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to E. Rogers, P. J. S. Smith, N. Papasimakis, I. Kuprov, Y. Shen, B. Ou, E. Aik Chan and C. Rendon Barraza for discussions and S. Varier for preparation of the manuscript. This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council UK (grant nos. EP/M009122/1 and EP/T02643X/1), the Singapore Ministry of Education (grant no. MOE2016-T3-1-006) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Singapore (grant no. SERC A1685b0005). G.Y. is also supported by the National Innovative Talents Program of China.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Springer Nature Limited.
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Local EPrints ID: 483098
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/483098
ISSN: 2522-5820
PURE UUID: adccc813-20af-4a25-8db1-88277fa7db06
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Date deposited: 23 Oct 2023 16:42
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 01:34
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Author:
Nikolai I. Zheludev
Author:
Guanghui Yuan
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