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Polarization‐to‐Phase Coupling at a Structured Surface for Plasmonic Structured Illumination Microscopy
Author(s) -
Zhang Chonglei,
Du Luping,
Xin Ziqiang,
Si Guangyuan,
Yang Aiping,
Lei Ting,
Lin Jiao,
Yuan Xiaocong
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
laser and photonics reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.778
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1863-8899
pISSN - 1863-8880
DOI - 10.1002/lpor.201800148
Subject(s) - wavefront , polarization (electrochemistry) , optics , surface plasmon polariton , plasmon , physics , ray , surface plasmon , microscopy , phase modulation , nanophotonics , linear polarization , optoelectronics , materials science , laser , chemistry , phase noise
Polarization–phase interaction on the nanoscale is the cause of many unique effects that are absent or weak in traditional optics. These effects enable various applications in physics, nano‐optics, and material science. Here, by making use of a properly designed metasurface, polarization‐to‐phase coupling in a structured surface is investigated. The wavefront of a surface plasmon polariton (SPP), emitted from the metasurface, can be tuned continuously and linearly by changing the incident polarization along the longitudinal line at the Poincaré sphere. This type of phase modulation with polarization enables dynamic control of the wavefront. This is very different from other methods that achieve phase modulation through nano‐structures, which offer little room for tuning after the structure has been completed. As a demonstration of application, a plasmonic structured illumination microscope is achieved, where the near‐field standing‐wave of the SPP is controlled dynamically through the incident polarization. This improves both reliability and stability substantially. Metasurfaces are powerful tools to modulate the wavefront of an electromagnetic field. In combination with structured illumination microscopy (SIM) (the “Meta‐SIM”), this allows more degrees of freedom and should accelerate the progress of SIM technology.