Far-Field Generation of Localized Light Fields using Absorbance Modulation

Rajesh Menon, Hsin-Yu Tsai, and Samuel W. Thomas, III
Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 043905 – Published 25 January 2007

Abstract

In this Letter, we report the confinement of a uniform beam of light (λ1=400nm) at the nodes of a standing wave (λ2=532nm) via absorbance modulation. In the present implementation of absorbance modulation, a thin polymer film containing a photochromic azobenzene side chain is exposed to a standing wave at λ2 and a uniform beam at λ1, resulting in alternate regions of high and low absorbance. Light at λ1 is localized around the low-absorbance regions. Using photoresist exposures, we mapped out the localized light intensity distribution, which agrees well with our theoretical model. Since the width of this distribution is primarily determined by the ratio of the intensities at the two wavelengths, this technique opens up the possibility of localizing light fields below the diffraction limit using far-field optics.

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  • Received 20 September 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.043905

©2007 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Rajesh Menon*

  • Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

Hsin-Yu Tsai

  • Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

Samuel W. Thomas, III

  • Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

  • *Electronic address: rmenon@nano.mit.edu

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Vol. 98, Iss. 4 — 26 January 2007

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