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Meta-Screens: Squeezing Light Into Sub-Wavelength Spots

Date:
September 28, 2008
Source:
American Physical Society
Summary:
In a new study, physicists have invented a simple structure called a meta-screen, designed to focus light into tiny spots smaller than the wavelength of the photons in use.
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In a new study, physicists at the University of Toronto have invented a simple structure called a meta-screen, designed to focus light into tiny spots smaller than the wavelength of the photons in use.

These sub-wavelength spots overcome the diffraction limit, thus allowing even the smallest details of an object to be visualized.

Researchers developed a meta-screen composed of slots cut into a metallic screen, each narrowly spaced (less than half a wavelength apart) and of a precise length. They found that screen was able to effectively increase the range of sub-wavelength spots, enabling greater image resolution.

The meta-screen is the first sub-wavelength focusing technique capable of being scaled to any arbitrary wavelength, thereby offering unprecedented levels of resolution and flexibility for imaging and sensing apparatuses involving electromagnetic waves, such as radio waves for medical diagnostics or light for optical microscopy.


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Materials provided by American Physical Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Loïc Markley, Alex M. H. Wong, Yan Wang, and George V. Eleftheriades. Spatially Shifted Beam Approach to Subwavelength Focusing. Physical Review Letters, 2008; 101 (11): 113901 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.113901

Cite This Page:

American Physical Society. "Meta-Screens: Squeezing Light Into Sub-Wavelength Spots." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 September 2008. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080926184846.htm>.
American Physical Society. (2008, September 28). Meta-Screens: Squeezing Light Into Sub-Wavelength Spots. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080926184846.htm
American Physical Society. "Meta-Screens: Squeezing Light Into Sub-Wavelength Spots." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080926184846.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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