Abstract

Light usually diffracts in all directions when it emerges from a subwavelength aperture, which puts a lower limit on the size of features that can be used in photonics. This limitation can be overcome by creating a periodic texture on the exit side of a single aperture in a metal film. The transmitted light emerges from the aperture as a beam with a small angular divergence (approximately ±3°) whose directionality can be controlled. This finding is especially surprising, considering that the radiating region is mainly confined to an area with lateral dimensions comparable to the wavelength of the light. The device occupies no more than one cubic micrometer and, when combined with enhanced transmission, suggests that a wide range of photonic applications is possible.

Keywords

OpticsAperture (computer memory)Beam divergenceWavelengthPhotonicsPhysicsAngular apertureDivergence (linguistics)Photonic crystalRange (aeronautics)Materials scienceFocal lengthLaser beamsBeam diameterLaser

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Publication Info

Year
2002
Type
article
Volume
297
Issue
5582
Pages
820-822
Citations
1735
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Henri J. Lezec, Aloyse Degiron, Éloïse Devaux et al. (2002). Beaming Light from a Subwavelength Aperture. Science , 297 (5582) , 820-822. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1071895

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DOI
10.1126/science.1071895