Focused Incident Beam Research Articles

Angular Goos-Hanchen shift in subwavelength gratings enhanced by surface plasmon resonance

The angular Goos-Hanchen shift dependence on the subwavelength grating parameters and the incident Gaussian beam width is investigated theoretically. High sensitivity of the angular Goos-Hanchen shift to the incident angle of a light beam near the surface plasmon resonance is demonstrated. Splitting of the reflected beam into two angularly separated beams is shown for strongly focused beam incident at the surface plasmon resonance angle.

Light scattering from a drop with an embedded particle and its exploitation in the time-shift technique

This study is devoted to light scattering from drops with an embedded particle, as would be expected in an encapsulation/coating process or with spraying of metallic paints. A ray-tracing approach is taken, in which the polarization and intensity of all rays impinging onto a defined detector aperture are documented, allowing the signal generation arising from the drop passing through a plane wave or focused Gaussian beam to be simulated. For validation of the ray-tracing code, comparisons are drawn to scattering from pure liquid drops, obtained using the Lorenz–Mie solution. When using a highly focused incident beam, the scattering corresponds to the optical arrangement of the time-shift technique and allows the capabilities of that technique to measure drops with embedded particles to be explored. The resulting detector signals for a drop with an embedded spherical particle (encapsulated particles) or an embedded circular flake (metallic paint drop) have been simulated. These signals are compared with signals arising from pure liquid drops and features are identified which could be exploited for detecting the embedded particles using the time-shift technique.

Focusing polycapillary to reduce parasitic scattering for inelastic x-ray measurements at high pressure.

The double-differential scattering cross-section for the inelastic scattering of x-ray photons from electrons is typically orders of magnitude smaller than that of elastic scattering. With samples 10-100 μm size in a diamond anvil cell at high pressure, the inelastic x-ray scattering signals from samples are obscured by scattering from the cell gasket and diamonds. One major experimental challenge is to measure a clean inelastic signal from the sample in a diamond anvil cell. Among the many strategies for doing this, we have used a focusing polycapillary as a post-sample optic, which allows essentially only scattered photons within its input field of view to be refocused and transmitted to the backscattering energy analyzer of the spectrometer. We describe the modified inelastic x-ray spectrometer and its alignment. With a focused incident beam which matches the sample size and the field of view of polycapillary, at relatively large scattering angles, the polycapillary effectively reduces parasitic scattering from the diamond anvil cell gasket and diamonds. Raw data collected from the helium exciton measured by x-ray inelastic scattering at high pressure using the polycapillary method are compared with those using conventional post-sample slit collimation.

Vortex phase elements as detectors of polarization state.

We suggest vortex phase elements to detect the polarization state of the focused incident beam. We analytically and numerically show that only the types of polarization (linear, circular, or cylindrical) can be distinguished in the low numerical aperture (NA) mode. Sharp focusing is necessary to identify the polarization state in more detail (direction or sign). We consider a high NA micro-objective and a diffractive axicon as focusing systems. We show that the diffractive axicon more precisely detects the polarization state than does the micro-objective with the same NA.

Photonic nanojets in optical tweezers

Photonic nanojets have been brought into attention ten years ago for potential application in ultramicroscopy, because of its sub-wavelength resolution that can enhance detection and interaction with matter. For these novel applications under development, the optical trapping of a sphere acts as an ideal framework to employ photonic nanojets. In the present study, we generated nanojets by using a highly focused incident beam, in contrast to traditional plane waves. The method inherits the advantage of optical trapping, especially for intracellular applications, with the microsphere in equilibrium on the beam propagation axis and positioned arbitrarily in space. Moreover, owing to optical scattering forces, when the sphere is in equilibrium, its center shifts with respect to the focal point of the incident beam. However, when the system is in stable equilibrium with a configuration involving optical tweezers, photonic nanojets cannot be formed. To overcome this issue, we employed double optical tweezers in an unorthodox configuration involving two collinear and co-propagating beams, the precise positioning of which would turn on/off the photonic nanojets, thereby improving the applicability of photonic nanojets.

Analysis of a photonic nanojet assuming a focused incident beam instead of a plane wave

The analysis of a photonic nanojet formed by dielectric spheres almost always assumes that the incident field is a plane wave. In this work, using vector spherical harmonics representations, we analyze the case of a more realistic incident field consisting of a focused beam formed by a microscope objective. Also included is the situation in which the sphere is not at the focal plane of the focus beam. We find that the dimension of the nanojet beam waist is less sensitive with respect to the azimuthal angle when compared with the plane wave case. Also, by shifting the particle away from the focal plane, the nanojet beam waist can be positioned outside the particle which otherwise would be inside or at the particle surface. Inherently, no such adjustment is possible with an incident plane wave assumption.

Modeling third-harmonic generation from layered materials using nonlinear optical matrices.

A matrix approach is formulated to describe third-harmonic (TH) generation in stacked materials in the small signal limit, in both transmission and reflection geometries. The model takes into account the contribution from the substrate to the total generated TH, interference of fundamental and nonlinear fields inside the stack, the nonlinear signal generation in forward and backward direction, the beam profile of the focused incident beam in the substrate, and the finite spectrum associated with short laser pulses. The model is applied to design stacks of thin films for efficient TH generation.

Laser-induced fluorescent micro-structures in silver nanoparticle based films

An optical method for the formation of micron sized line features within silver nanoparticle based films using focused laser irradiation is developed. The observed light-induced effect is a strong function of light flux producing line features with widths of less than 5μm, which can be controlled by careful selection of the focused incident beam waist. A potentially useful local feature is generated just outside the region of laser exposure; the film displays significant fluorescence emission across the visible spectrum. The source of the fluorescence is attributed to the presence of hydrated citrate salts that have been decomposed due to local heating and recrystallized as confirmed by electron microscopy and confocal fluorescence spectroscopy.

Ultrasmall spot size scanning laser ophthalmoscopy

An ultrasmall spot size scanning laser ophthalmoscope has been developed that employs an annular aberration-corrected incident beam to increase the effective numerical aperture of the eye thereby reducing the width of the probing light spot. Parafovea and foveal cone photoreceptor visibility determined from small area retinal image scans are discussed from the perspective of mode matching between the focused incident beam and the waveguide modes of individual cones. The cone visibility near the fovea centralis can be increased with the annular illumination scheme whereas the visibility of larger parafovea cones drops significantly as a consequence of poorer mode match. With further improvements of the implemented wavefront correction technology it holds promise for individual cone-photoreceptor imaging at the fovea centralis and for optical targeting of the retina with increased resolution.

Analysis of individual cone-photoreceptor directionality using scanning laser ophthalmoscopy

Scanning laser ophthalmoscopy has been used to measure individual cone-photoreceptor directionalities in the living human eye. The directionality is determined at different retinal eccentricities where it is expected that cones have diameters ranging between 5–10μm, comparable to the spot size of the incident beam. Individual cone directionality values are compared with the predicted directionalities obtained by using the waveguide model of light coupling to and from photoreceptors for the case of a focused incident beam.

Nonlinear imaging of isoechogenic phantoms using phase conjugation of the second acoustic harmonic

Experiments on nonlinear C-scan acoustic imaging were performed using phase conjugation of the second harmonic of a focused incident beam. This method made it possible to obtain images of objects with close linear properties but with different nonlinear parameters. Nonlinear backward propagation of the conjugate wave was also considered and improvement of the image contrast was demonstrated for this case. The results obtained were generally in agreement with the theoretical predictions.

Electromagnetic field for a tightly focused beam incident upon ordinary and layered plane surfaces

A solution procedure is developed for the determination of the electromagnetic field that results from the interaction of a tightly focused beam with a plane surface with and without a layer. The effects of angle of incidence, relative index of refraction, polarization, layer thickness, and incident beam profile on the resulting electromagnetic field distribution are demonstrated.

CBED and LACBED characterization of crystal defects

Convergent-beam electron diffraction (CBED) obtained with a focused incident beam is well known for the identification of the point and space groups but it can also be used for the analysis of stacking faults and antiphase boundaries. Large-angle convergent-beam electron diffraction (LACBED) is performed with a large defocused incident beam and is well adapted to the characterization of most types of crystal defects: point defects, perfect and partial dislocations, stacking faults, antiphase boundaries and grain boundaries. Among the advantages of these methods with respect to the conventional transmission electron microscopy methods, are that one or few patterns are required for a full analysis and the interpretations are easy and unambiguous. The LACBED technique is particularly useful for the analysis of dislocations present in anisotropic and beam-sensitive materials.

Ultrasonic edge shadowing around cylindrical cavities with and without walls

In B-mode ultrasound images, the speckle distal to the edges of cavities of contrasting speed of sound (SOS) can be imprinted with a pattern characteristic of the cavity. This pattern, termed edge shadowing, is likely to involve alteration of both the speckle amplitude and its correlation length. Using the acoustic field calculated from the exact solution to the wave equation, we have simulated the ensemble-averaged speckle amplitude in B-mode images of cylindrical cavities both with and without walls, and compared the results to a simpler ray-based model. The simulations show that edge shadowing is caused predominantly by contrasts of the SOS, rather than of the density. The shadows on both walled and wall-less cylinders, for a focused incident beam, grow darker as the magnitude of the SOS contrast increases over a range up to +/- 10%. Extra shadows, caused by the inner wall boundary, appear on images of walled cylinders. The ray-based model agrees well with the wave model except in the shadow regions, within which the complexity of the phenomena seems to require the wave model.

Soliton Induced Supercontinuum Generation in Photonic Crystal Fiber

Soliton induced supercontinuum (SC) generation using an index-guiding triangular photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is experimentally studied by pumping with 140-fs pulses at several wavelengths in the positive slope anomalous dispersion region. The focused beam incident upon the PCF core is first confirmed by in situ observation based on the reflection method to make sure accurate input coupling conditions. The influence of pumping wavelength on the spectral profile of SC is examined as a function of input peak power P/sub 0/. Processes initiating SC generation are governed by the fission of higher-order solitons, which lead to the soliton self-frequency shift (SSFS) by intrapulse Raman scattering associated with blue-shifted Cherenkov type phase matched radiation. The fission of higher-order solitons is clearly observed in the input P/sub 0/ dependent spectrum and a plot of the square root of frequency shift versus input P/sub 0/. Further increase of input P/sub 0/ leads to a new SSFS accompanied by an additional blue-shifted peak located at shorter wavelength than that of the previous one. These processes continue to develop successive blue-shifted and SSFS peaks as increasing the input P/sub 0/, which determine the spectral width of SC. Spectral profile of SC is also dominated by these initial and growth processes. SC spectra obtained in the vicinity of zero dispersion wavelength shows smooth but relatively narrow, while SC generation at deep anomalous dispersion site exhibits broad bandwidth at relatively low P/sub 0/. The input P/sub 0/ required for approaching a saturated SC which is almost the same feature within the tuning pump wavelengths is decreased as increasing the degree of anomalous dispersion.

Two-dimensional coupled mode equation for grating waveguide excitation by a focused beam

The problem of grating coupling of a focused incident beam under non-normal incidence into a slab waveguide is given a complete three-dimensional (3D) solution. The diffracted field is expressed as the Fourier integral of a regular part and of a singular part resulting from the existence of the coupled guided mode. A suitable expression of the field in the neighborhood of the pole and a rigorous definition of the modal field lead to a generalized coupled mode equation relating the incident field and the two-dimensional (2D) modal field propagating in the plane of the slab waveguide. The phenomenological parameters involved in the coupled wave equation: the propagation constant, the radiation coefficient as well as the modal field shape are derived from the exact treatment of plane wave diffraction in the same structure. The solution of the complete coupling problem is given in the particular case of a Gaussian incident beam, and of a high index step-index waveguide.

Absolute small angle light scattering measurements from weakly scattering systems in a shear flow apparatus

We describe an optical detection layout that allows absolute small angle light scattering measurements on samples sheared in a concentric cylinders geometry. The two main features are the use of a focused incident beam and of a spatial filter that minimize the problem of stray light arising from digs and scratches in the optical path. The scattering intensity is imaged directly onto a cooled 12 bits charge-coupled device sensor. We are thus able to measure scattering intensities as low as about 4×10−4 cm−1 (about ten times the intensity scattered from a toluene standard) for scattering wave vector values between 5×10−5 and 3.5×10−4 Å−1. Some preliminary results of experiments on dilute surfactant solutions are given to demonstrate the performance of the instrument.

Vector diffraction analysis of optical disk readout

The optical disk readout signals from ROM disks are presented by use of a rigorous three-dimensional vector diffraction method. The optical disk is modeled as a crossed metal grating without restriction on the form of the information marks, and the permittivity of the metal is taken into account. The diffracted field from the disk is obtained by means of decomposing the focused incident beam into a spectrum of plane waves and then calculating the diffracted plane waves for each respective incident component. The readout signal is obtained by integration of the energy-flux density of the diffracted field according to the detection scheme of the optical disk system. A typical digital versatile disk (DVD) system is applied with this theory, and the result is far from that of scalar diffraction theory.

Saturable Nonlinearity in Photovoltaic-Photorefractive Crystals Under Open-circuit Condition

We show that the refractive index change induced by a focused incident beam with an additional incoherent uniform illumination in photovoltaic-photorefractive crystals under open-circuit condition has a saturable nonlinearity form. The incoherent uniform background illumination can be used to increase the effective dark irradiance. The formation time of the photovoltaic soliton can be decreased by keeping the intensity of the soliton at a higher value without over-saturation by use of the background illumination.

Vector diffraction from subwavelength optical disk structures: two-dimensional modeling of near-field profiles, far-field intensities, and detector signals from a dvd

Rigorous two-dimensional vector-diffraction patterns of a focused beam incident on an optical disk, specifically, a digital versatile disk (DVD), are examined both in the near field and in the far field. An efficient finite-difference frequency-domain method is developed for calculating the electromagnetic fields in the neighborhood of subwavelength dielectric and metallic structures. The results of vector-diffraction theory are compared with those of scalar-diffraction theory for pressed DVD features that consist of pits or of bumps. The sum (data) and difference (tracking) signals from a split photodetector are also calculated for different disk features and for different polarizations. The subwavelength features of a DVD result in considerable vector-diffraction effects both in the near-field profiles and in the detector signals, depending not only on the polarization of illumination but also on whether the features are pits or bumps. This paper provides important insight into the vector-diffraction effects encountered in high-density optical data storage systems.