Abstract
A gradient permittivity meta-structure (GPMS) model and its application in super-resolution imaging were proposed and discussed in this work. The proposed GPMS consists of alternate metallic and dielectric films with a gradient permittivity which can support surface plasmons (SPs) standing wave interference patterns with a super resolution. By employing the rigorous numerical FDTD simulation method, the GPMS was carefully simulated to find that the period of the SPs interference pattern is only 84 nm for a 532 nm incident light. Furthermore, the potential application of the GPMS for wide-field super-resolution imaging was also discussed and the simulation results show that an imaging resolution of sub−45 nm can be achieved based on the plasmonic structure illumination microscopic method, which means a 5.3-fold improvement on resolution has been achieved in comparison with conventional epifluorescence microscopy. Moreover, besides the super-resolution imaging application, the proposed GPMS model can also be applied for nanolithography and other areas where super resolution patterns are needed.
Highlights
Surface plasmons (SPs) are surface electromagnetic waves trapped at the metal-dielectric interface due to the collective oscillations of free electrons of the metal[1]
In order to generate surface plasmon waves, a subwavelength slit array with a width of W = 100 nm for each slit is perforated in silver layer and the slit is filled with Al2O3 material
The reason why the period of the slit array is chosen as 1 μm is because the propagation length of the surface plasmon polariton is calculated to be 1 μm by using the Equations (2.6) and (2.11) in reference 1
Summary
Surface plasmons (SPs) are surface electromagnetic waves trapped at the metal-dielectric interface due to the collective oscillations of free electrons of the metal[1]. The SPs super-resolution has been widely studied and applied in perfect lens[7], silver superlens[8,9], and hyperlens[10] These devices have the great potential for near-field super-resolution microscopy. SPs can be employed in far-field microscopic imaging mode, such as standing wave surface plasmon resonance fluorescence microscopy (SW-SPRF)[11,12,13] and structured illumination microscopy (SIM)[14,15]. In these two methods, standing SPs wave patterns are used as the illumination patterns. The physical mechanism to support short wavelength SPs in GPMS is discussed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
