No abstract

Super-resolution microscopy by microspheres emerged as a simple and broadband imaging technique; however, the mechanisms of imaging are debated in the literature. Furthermore, the resolution values were estimated based on semi-quantitative criteria. The primary goals of this work are threefold: i) to quantify the spatial resolution provided by this method, ii) to compare the resolution of nanoplasmonic structures formed by different metals, and iii) to understand the imaging provided by microfibers. To this end, arrays of Au and Al nanoplasmonic dimers with very similar geometry were imaged using confocal laser scanning microscopy at λ = 405 nm through high-index (n~1.9-2.2) liquid-immersed BaTiO₃ microspheres and through etched silica microfibers. We developed a treatment of super-resolved images in label-free microscopy based on using point-spread functions with subdiffraction-limited widths. It is applicable to objects with arbitrary shapes and can be viewed as an integral form of the super-resolution quantification widely accepted in fluorescent microscopy. In the case of imaging through microspheres, the resolution ~λ/6-λ/7 is demonstrated for Au and Al nanoplasmonic arrays. In the case of imaging through microfibers, the resolution ~λ/6 with magnification M~2.1 is demonstrated in the direction perpendicular to the fiber with hundreds of times larger field-of-view in comparison to microspheres.

This work takes inspiration from chemistry where the spectral characteristics of the molecules are determined by hybridization of electronic states evolving from the individual atomic orbitals. Based on analogy between quantum mechanics and the classical electrodynamics, we sorted dielectric microspheres with almost identical positions of their whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonances. Using these microspheres as classical photonic atoms, we assembled them in a wide range of structures including linear chains and planar photonic molecules. We studied WGM hybridization effects in such structures using side coupling by tapered microfibers as well as finite difference time domain modeling. We demonstrated that the patterns of WGM spectral splitting are representative of the symmetry, number of constituting atoms and topology of the photonic molecules which in principle can be viewed as "spectral signatures" of various molecules. We also show new ways of controlling WGM coupling constants in such molecules. Excellent agreement was found between measured transmission spectra and spectral signatures of photonic molecules predicted by simulation.Comment: This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article submitted to Laser Photonics Rev. on October 17, 2016. Revisions have been made in the published version. "Whispering gallery mode hybridization in photonic molecules", Y. Li, F. Abolmaali, K. W. Allen, N. I. Limberopoulos, A. Urbas, Y. Rakovich, A. V. Maslov, and V. N. Astratov, Laser Photonics Rev. DOI: 10.1002/lpor.201600278 (2017