Sub-wavelength focusing of cylindrical vector beams by a 1D metallic photonic crystal plano-concave lens

Abstract

The fine manipulations of cylindrical vector beams (CVBs) based on metallic microstructures, such as sub-wavelength focusing, have entered many interdisciplinary areas, and the important applications have been found in many fields including optical micromanipulation, super-resolution imaging, micro-machining and so on. But so far, the sub-wavelength focusing of azimuthally polarized beams is encountered, since the manipulation mechanisms rely heavily on the excitation of surface plasmon polaritons, which brings the polarization limitation. We theoretically investigated the focusing behavior of CVBs in 1D metallic photonic crystals (MPCs). The simulation results show that a 1D MPC plano-concave lens can focus cylindrical vector beams into scale of sub-wavelength. The negative refraction at the interface between the air and the 1D MPC is analyzed at the frequencies corresponding to the second photonic band, which makes the 1D MPC has the ability to focus higher Fourier components of light beams. The cylindrical plano-concave structure is constructed to focus the radially and azimuthally polarized beams simultaneously. The behavior is demonstrated by Finite Element Method (FEM). The shape of focusing field can be tailored, by changing the polarization ratio of the incident beams. In addition, the effective sub-wavelength focusing phenomenon can also be realized in variety of wave ranges, by choosing the proper materials and adjusting the parameters. We believe that it’s the first time to realize the simultaneous sub-wavelength focusing of radially and azimuthally polarized beams, the application of which is quite promising in broad prospects.