Magnifying superlens in the visible frequency range

Smolyaninov, Igor I.; Hung, Jui-Chung; Davis, Sharon G.

doi:10.1109/qels.2007.4431017

Cited by 31 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…39). A different approach to realizing cylindrical magnifying superlenses uses surface plasmon waves confined on a metal surface with a concentric polymer grating 14 . The magnified images of the surface waves after scattering by the surface roughness were collected by a microscope.…”

Section: Experimental Hyperlens Demonstration and Recent Advancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This has provided tremendous opportunities for novel lens designs with unprecedented resolution 9 . Initiated by Pendry's seminal concept of the perfect lens 10 , a number of superlenses were demonstrated with resolving powers beyond the diffraction limit [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] . The optical superlens first achieved sub-diffraction-limited resolution by enhancing evanescent waves through a slab of silver 11 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Hyperlenses and metalenses for far-field super-resolution imaging

2012

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The resolution of conventional optical lens systems is always hampered by the diffraction limit. Recent developments in artificial metamaterials provide new avenues to build hyperlenses and metalenses that are able to image beyond the diffraction limit. Hyperlenses project super-resolution information to the far field through a magnification mechanism, whereas metalenses not only super-resolve subwavelength details but also enable optical Fourier transforms. Recently, there have been numerous designs for hyperlenses and metalenses, bringing fresh theoretical and experimental advances, though future directions and challenges remain to be overcome.O ptical microscopy has revolutionized many fields such as microelectronics, biology and medicine. However, the resolution of a conventional optical lens system is always limited by diffraction to about half the wavelength of light. This diffraction barrier arises from the fact that subwavelength information from an object is carried by high spatial-frequency evanescent waves, which only exist in the near field. To overcome this diffraction limit, pioneering work has been carried out, including near-field scanning microscopy 1 , as well as fluorescence-based imaging methods 2,3 . These scanning-or random sampling-based nonprojection techniques achieve super-resolving power by sacrificing imaging speed, making them uncompetitive for dynamic imaging.Lens-based projection imaging remains the best option for high-speed microscopy. Immersion techniques have been proposed to enhance resolution, but they are limited by the low refractive indices of natural materials 4 . Emerging within the last decade, the fields of plasmonics and metamaterials provide solutions for engineering extraordinary material properties not found in nature, such as negative index of refraction 5,6 or strongly anisotropic materials 7,8 . This has provided tremendous opportunities for novel lens designs with unprecedented resolution 9 . Initiated by Pendry's seminal concept of the perfect lens 10 , a number of superlenses were demonstrated with resolving powers beyond the diffraction limit [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] . The optical superlens first achieved sub-diffraction-limited resolution by enhancing evanescent waves through a slab of silver 11 . As the evanescent-field enhancement is enabled by surface plasmon excitation, the subwavelength image is typically limited to the near field of the metal slab. However, the hyperlens-a metamaterial-based lens-can send super-resolution images into the far field by introducing a magnification mechanism. This has been considered as one of the most promising candidates for practical applications since its first demonstration in 2007 (refs 13,14). Recently, various other metamaterial-based lenses, that is, metalenses, have also been developed with both

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Section: Experimental Hyperlens Demonstration and Recent Advancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hyperlenses and metalenses for far-field super-resolution imaging

2012

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“…Therefore, any arbitrarily shaped object placed behind the bump will maintain the reflectance of a smooth, flat surface, rendering the object invisible. This approach represents a major step towards general transformation optics [24][25][26] which has so far remained a challenging endeavor due to increased metal loss and fabrication limitations at optical frequencies, with only basic optical applications (e.g., lenses) brought to reality [27][28][29]. It simplifies the realization of an arbitrary 2D sub-wavelength effective index profile, by using the simple and uniform geometry of a hole array with variable density.…”

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confidence: 99%

An optical cloak made of dielectrics

Valentine¹,

Li²,

Zentgraf³

et al. 2009

Nature Mater

1,274

867

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Invisibility or cloaking has captured human's imagination for many years. With the recent advancement of metamaterials, several theoretical proposals show cloaking of objects is possible, however, so far there is a lack of an experimental demonstration at optical frequencies. Here, we report the first experimental realization of a dielectric optical cloak. The cloak is designed using quasi-conformal mapping to conceal an object that is placed under a curved reflecting surface which imitates the reflection of a flat surface. Our cloak consists only of isotropic dielectric materials which enables broadband and low-loss invisibility at a wavelength range of 1400-1800 nm.

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“…Despite the limitations of the superlens restricting its effect to the near field, the excitement generated by Pendry's paper led to extensive work on subwavelength focusing and imaging, and in the ensuing years multiple groups reported 'breaking' the diffraction limit in the far field in both optics and acoustics: sub-diffraction-limited focusing or imaging was observed with metamaterials and without metamaterials, with negative refraction and without negative refraction, with Helmholtz resonators in acoustics and with Maxwell's fish eye lenses in optics [12][13][14][15][16][17]. The general mood was expressed by a commentary in Nature Materials entitled "What diffraction limit?"…”

Section:  mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the wavelength in the metamaterial is considered, no violations of the diffraction limit are found. A case in point is the 'hyperlens' [12,13,42] made of an electromagnetic hyperbolic metamaterial. In an ideal lossless hyperbolic medium, the dispersion relation is given by (kx 2 +ky 2 )/|| + kz 2 /= 2 /c 2 , where dielectric tensor components || and  have opposite signs.…”

Section: Solid Immersion Lenses With Metamaterialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upholding the diffraction limit in the focusing of light and sound

Maznev

Wright

2017

Wave Motion

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The concept of the diffraction limit put forth by Ernst Abbe and others has been an important guiding principle limiting our ability to tightly focus classical waves, such as light and sound, in the far field. In the past decade, numerous reports have described focusing or imaging with light and sound 'below the diffraction limit'. We argue that the diffraction limit defined in a reasonable way, for example in terms of the upper bound on the wave numbers corresponding to the spatial Fourier components of the intensity profile, or in terms of the spot size into which at least 50% of the incident power can be focused, still stands unbroken to this day. We review experimental observations of 'subwavelength' or 'sub-diffraction-limit' focusing, which can be principally broken down into three broad categories: (i) 'super-resolution', i.e. the technique based on the modification of the pupil of the optical system to reduce the width of the central maximum in the intensity distribution at the expense of increasing side bands; (ii) solid immersion lenses, making use of metamaterials with a high effective index; (iii) concentration of intensity by a subwavelength structure such as an antenna. Even though a lot of interesting work has been done along these lines, none of the hitherto performed experiments violated the sensibly defined diffraction limit.

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Magnifying superlens in the visible frequency range

Cited by 31 publications

References 6 publications

Hyperlenses and metalenses for far-field super-resolution imaging

Hyperlenses and metalenses for far-field super-resolution imaging

An optical cloak made of dielectrics

Upholding the diffraction limit in the focusing of light and sound

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