Non-imaging freeform lenses are a convenient tool for intensity and beam shaping processes due to their highly customizable designs and high efficiency. The surface curvature of these lenses are designed to ensure optimal transport of energy from the light source to a target plane, and require increasingly precise fabrication to attain the desired efficiency in complicated beam shaping cases. Metasurfaces have the ability to impart any phase profile, thus mimicking any surface curvature, without additional fabrication challenges. Here we present a theoretical framework based on the optimal transport formulation from non-imaging optics, for calculating the two dimensional phase profile of a metasurface for applications with normally incident light and cylindrical symmetry.
We present a new method for detecting single nanoparticles using a sensor based on a whispering gallery mode resonator submerged in aqueous solutions. A free-space diode laser excites whispering-gallery mode resonances by focusing it on the edge of the microresonator. Its emission frequency is then locked to a resonant mode in order to track any change induced by the interaction of the microsphere with nanoparticles, which can be suspended in the surrounding liquid medium. A theoretical analysis based on some seminal work, together with preliminary noise source evaluation, indicates that frequency shifts down to the order of hundreds of kHz are measurable, thus allowing to detect single nanoparticles. Further upgrades of the experimental scheme aimed at precise nanoparticle sizing and positioning are discussed.
We present a set of experiments in which the backscattering spectra of 4 μm single TiO2 particles are probed with circularly polarized vortex beams. The experiment is carried out with a tunable laser at λ = 760 - 810nm. We observe that the use of vortex beams enables us to tailor the backscattering in different ways. Given a certain backscattering of a particle (induced by a Gaussian beam or a plane wave), we observe that vortex beams can tune it and sharpen it. Moreover, we also observe that the level of conservation of helicty can be increased thanks to the use of vortex beams. We explain the mechanisms that give rise to these effects using Mie Theory. Our method of backscattering control can be experimentally implemented in most of microscopy set-ups. In addition, if brought to its limits, the method can be used to excite single multipolar modes from spheres. We believe that our method could find application in the levitation of particles or the excitation of whispering gallery modes.
We fabricated hollow nanoantennas with varying inner channels sizes on a gold-covered silicon nitride membrane. Our fabrication technique allowed us to narrow the size of the inner channels down to 15nm. We managed to exclusively decorate the tips of the antennas with thiol-conjugated dyes by creating a concentration gradient through the nanoantennas. Finally, we characterized the antennas in terms of their effect on the lifetime of dyes. We used Atto 520 and Atto 590 for the experiments. We carried out experiments with the antennas decorated with Atto 520, with Atto 590 as well as with the two Atto dyes at the same time. The experiments carried out with the antennas decorated with Atto 520 only and Atto 590 only yielded a lifetime reduction with respect to the confocal case. Interestingly, their lifetime reductions were significantly different. Then, we decorated the antennas with the two dyes at the same time. Even though we could not control the distance between the two dyes, FRET effects were clearly observed. The FRET effects were found to be dependent on the size of the inner channel. We believe that our tip decorated hollow nanoantennas could find application in FRET-based single molecule nanopore technologies.
Surface plasmon waves carry an intrinsic transverse spin angular momentum, which is locked to their propagation direction. On the other hand, helical plasmonic distributions may also carry an orbital angular momentum that is linked to the field topology. Apparently, when such a singular plasmonic mode propagates on a surface or is guided on a conic structure its helicity and the transverse spin can be coupled to the far-field spin and orbital angular momentum. We discuss the mechaism of such a coupling by using 2D and 3D guiding architetures. We analyze the coupling efficiency in each case as well as the intriguing spin-locking phenomenon occurring in our system. Finally we experimentally demonstrate the efficient beaming of a single-handed mode decorated by a desired orbital angular using accurately fabricated nanostructures.
We will show how to extract information from the Mie coefficients to properly design dual systems combined with chiral
elements for having optically active structures. Such optically active elements will scatter the light omnidirectionally,
where the amount of rotation of light is fixed in any given direction independently of the incident polarization. The key
elements are the preservation of helicity by equaling the electric and magnetic responses from the material, and by the
proper manipulation of the angular momentum.
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