Nanoscopic Near-Field Probe
- 詳細技術說明
- This invention is a nanoscopic near-field probe with superb transmission even at aperture diameters of 1/20 of the light's wavelength.
- *Abstract
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The novel probe design builds upon recent studies by the inventors demonstrating that light transmission through sub-wavelength nanoscopic waveguides is considerably enhanced by a dielectric filling. Extending this concept, the invention further optimizes transmission by matching the dielectric constants of filling and cladding materials in the aperture.
Practical transmission through a subwavelength aperture of finite depth is enhanced by depth optimization such that Fabry-Pérot resonances are excited. This resonantly enhanced transmission results in high near-field intensity, confined within a comparatively small nanoscale volume, which allows for extraordinary spatial resolution.
The design comprises of core and cladding materials being composed of real metals with matched dielectric constants. By a proper choice of these materials, nanoprobes operating at various wavelengths with strong transmission and near-field intensity can be designed. Another advantage is that the total probe size is considerably smaller (only 60 nm with a 30 nm aperture, as opposed to the ~300 nm size of currently available near-field scanning probes). The smaller size should be beneficial in cellular imaging applications where minimal disturbance to the sample is desired.
Potential Applications
- Near field optical scanning microscopy
- High resolution optical lithography
- Single-molecule optical spectroscopy
- Generalized high transmission nanoscopic optical probe
- Other applications that require an efficient nanoscopic light source.
Advantages
- Enhanced transmission of light through aperture
- Greater near-field intensity in a more confined space (increased spatial resolution)
- Propagating light modes at extremely small radius-to-wavelength ratios
- Smaller probe size
- *Licensing
- Martin Teschlmt439@cornell.edu(607) 254-4454
- 其他
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- Patent application: 20110158575
- Xu, et.al., Resonantly enhanced transmission of light through subwavelength apertures with dielectric filling. Optical Communications 282, 7, 1467-1471 (2009)
- 國家/地區
- 美國
