Experimental far-field imaging properties of high refractive index microsphere lens

Abstract

The far-field imaging properties of a high index microsphere lens spatially separated from the object are experimentally studied. Our experimental results show that, for a Blu-ray disk whose spacing is 300 nm, the high index microsphere lens also can discern the patterns of the object sample when the distance between the lens and the object is up to 5.4 μm. When the distance is increased from 0 to 5.4 μm, for the microsphere lens with a diameter of 24 μm, the lateral magnification increases from 3.5× to 5.5×, while the field of view decreases from 5.1 to 3.0 μm. By varying the distance between the lens and the object, the optical image can be optimized. We also indicate that the far-field imaging capability of a high index microsphere lens is dependent on the electromagnetic field intensity profile of the photonic nanojet under different positions of the microsphere lens.