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Subwavelength light focusing using random nanoparticles

Nature Photonics volume 7, pages 454–458 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

There has been an escalation in interest in developing methods to control the near field because of its role in subwavelength optics. Many novel ideas have emerged in the field of plasmonics1, super-resolution optical imaging2,3,4,5 and lithography6, among others. However, the near field generated in plasmonic metamaterials is fundamentally restricted by their predesigned structure, and super-resolution optical techniques do not directly control the near field. Here, we achieve direct control of the optical near field by shaping the wavefront impinging on turbid media consisting of random nanoparticles. The linear relation between input far field and scattered output near fields allows us to coherently control the near field at arbitrary positions. Direct control of the near field through scattering control offers novel approaches for subwavelength optics and may have direct applications in bio- and nanophotonics.

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Figure 1: Far- and near-field components of the speckle field generated from multiple scattering in random nanoparticles.
Figure 2: Principle of subwavelength near-field manipulation using scattering control.
Figure 3: Experimental set-up.
Figure 4: Construction of subwavelength focus.
Figure 5: Wavelength- and position-independent subwavelength focusing.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Y.-H. Lee, J.H. Shin, M.-K. Seo and B.Y. Kim for helpful discussions. This work was supported by KAIST, the KAIST Institute for Optical Science and Technology, the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST; grant no. 2009-0087691, Basic Research Lab (BRL)), the National Research Foundation (NRF-2012R1A1A1009082, NRF-2012K1A3A1A09055128, NRF-2012-M3C1A1-048860, NRF-2012R1A1A2022754). The Pioneer Research Center Program (2013M3CIA3000499), and World Class University (WCU) program (No. R31-2008-000-10071-0) of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Y.K.P. acknowledges support from TJ ChungAm Foundation.

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Author notes

  1. Jung-Hoon Park and Chunghyun Park: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 305–701, Republic of Korea

    Jung-Hoon Park, Chunghyun Park, HyeonSeung Yu, Yong-Hoon Cho & YongKeun Park

  2. Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology (WCU) and KAIST Institute for the NanoCentury, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 305–701, Republic of Korea

    Chunghyun Park & Yong-Hoon Cho

  3. Department of Material Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151–742, Republic of Korea

    Jimin Park & Ki Tae Nam

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 305–701, Republic of Korea

    Seungyong Han & Seung Hwan Ko

  5. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 305–701, Republic of Korea

    Jonghwa Shin

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Contributions

J.-H.P. and C.P. performed the experiments and analysed the data. H.Y., J.S., J.P., S.H., S.H.K. and K.T.N. contributed new reagents and analytic tools. Y.-H.C. and Y.P. conceived and supervised the project. J.-H.P., C.P., Y.-H.C. and Y.P. wrote the manuscript, with contributions from all co-authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yong-Hoon Cho or YongKeun Park.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Park, JH., Park, C., Yu, H. et al. Subwavelength light focusing using random nanoparticles. Nature Photon 7, 454–458 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2013.95

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