Open AccessA study on the realization of high resolution solid immersion lens-based near-field imaging optics by use of an annular aperture
Author(s) -
Hyungbae Moon,
Young-Joong Yoon,
Wan Chin Kim,
No Cheol Park,
Kyoung Su Park,
Young Pil Park
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.18.017533
Subject(s) - optics , aperture (computer memory) , lens (geology) , numerical aperture , lithography , adaptive optics , materials science , focal length , resolution (logic) , near field optics , immersion lithography , physics , optical microscope , resist , computer science , wavelength , artificial intelligence , acoustics , scanning electron microscope , layer (electronics) , composite material
We report on the realization of solid immersion lens (SIL)-based near-field (NF) optics with an annular aperture, which is targeted to achieve high optical resolution. A numerical aperture (NA) = 1.84 hemisphere SIL-optics with an annular aperture achieves higher optical resolution than the conventional NA = 2.0 SIL-optics. The designed aperture is fabricated by photo-lithography and dry-etching technique. Experimental verification of the designed optics was performed through beam spot profile measurement under NF imaging conditions. A 15% smaller full-width-at-half-maximum spot diameter is obtained by the aperture. We verified that this method gives an improvement of the resolution in the optical imaging systems requiring higher resolution.