Retrieving the Size of Deep-Subwavelength Objects via Tunable Optical Spin-Orbit Coupling

Zheng Xi, H. P. Urbach

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)
72 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We propose a scheme to retrieve the size parameters of a nanoparticle on a glass substrate at a scale much smaller than the wavelength. This is achieved by illuminating the particle using two plane waves to create rich and nontrivial local polarization distributions, and observing the far-field scattering pattern into the substrate. By using this illumination to control the induced complex dipole moment, the exponential decay of power radiated into the supercritical region, as well as directional scattering due to spin-orbit coupling can be exploited to retrieve the particle's shape, size, and position directly from the far-field scattering with high sensitivity and without the need for a complicated and time-consuming optimization algorithm. Our method brings about a far-field superresolution nanometrology scheme based on the interaction of vectorial light with nanoparticles.

Original languageEnglish
Article number253901
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume120
Issue number25
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 Jun 2018

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Retrieving the Size of Deep-Subwavelength Objects via Tunable Optical Spin-Orbit Coupling'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this