Sub-wavelength diffraction-free imaging with low-loss metal-dielectric multilayers

We demonstrate numerically the diffraction-free propagation of sub-wavelength sized optical beams through simple elements built of metal-dielectric multilayers. The proposed metamaterial consists of silver and a high refractive index dielectric, and is designed using the effective medium theory as s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing Materials science & processing, 2011-06, Vol.103 (3), p.905-909
Main Authors: Kotyński, Rafał, Stefaniuk, Tomasz, Pastuszczak, Anna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anisotropy
Beams (radiation)
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Condensed Matter Physics
Dielectric strength
Diffraction
Machines
Manufacturing
Mathematical models
Metamaterials
Multilayers
Nanotechnology
Optical and Electronic Materials
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Processes
Silver
Surfaces and Interfaces
Thin Films
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Summary:We demonstrate numerically the diffraction-free propagation of sub-wavelength sized optical beams through simple elements built of metal-dielectric multilayers. The proposed metamaterial consists of silver and a high refractive index dielectric, and is designed using the effective medium theory as strongly anisotropic and impedance matched to air. Further it is characterised with the transfer matrix method, and investigated with FDTD. The diffraction-free behaviour is verified by the analysis of FWHM of PSF in the function of the number of periods. Small reflections, small attenuation, and reduced Fabry–Pérot resonances make it a flexible diffraction-free material for arbitrarily shaped optical planar elements with sizes of the order of one wavelength.
ISSN:0947-8396
1432-0630
DOI:10.1007/s00339-011-6286-3