Near-field examination of perovskite-based superlenses and superlens-enhanced probe-object coupling

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • S. C. Kehr - , Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of St Andrews (Author)
  • Y. M. Liu - , University of California at Berkeley (Author)
  • L. W. Martin - , Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Author)
  • P. Yu - , University of California at Berkeley (Author)
  • M. Gajek - , University of California at Berkeley (Author)
  • S. Y. Yang - , University of California at Berkeley (Author)
  • C. H. Yang - , University of California at Berkeley, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Author)
  • M. T. Wenzel - , TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • R. Jacob - , Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) (Author)
  • H. G. Von Ribbeck - , TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • M. Helm - , Chair of Semiconductor Spectroscopy, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) (Author)
  • X. Zhang - , Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley (Author)
  • L. M. Eng - , Institute of Applied Physics, Chair of Experimental Physics / Photophysics (Author)
  • R. Ramesh - , Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley (Author)

Abstract

A planar slab of negative-index material works as a superlens with sub-diffraction-limited resolution, as propagating waves are focused and, moreover, evanescent waves are reconstructed in the image plane. Here we demonstrate a superlens for electric evanescent fields with low losses using perovskites in the mid-infrared regime. The combination of near-field microscopy with a tunable free-electron laser allows us to address precisely the polariton modes, which are critical for super-resolution imaging. We spectrally study the lateral and vertical distributions of evanescent waves around the image plane of such a lens, and achieve imaging resolution of Î /14 at the superlensing wavelength. Interestingly, at certain distances between the probe and sample surface, we observe a maximum of these evanescent fields. Comparisons with numerical simulations indicate that this maximum originates from an enhanced coupling between probe and object, which might be applicable for multifunctional circuits, infrared spectroscopy and thermal sensors.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number249
JournalNature communications
Volume2
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2011
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 21427720
ORCID /0000-0002-2484-4158/work/176339452