Generation of Photonic Hooks from Patchy Microcylinders

Abstract

The photonic hook (PH) is a new type of curved light beam, which has promising applications in various fields such as nanoparticle manipulation, super-resolution imaging, and so forth. Herein, we proposed a new approach of utilizing patchy microcylinders for the generation of PHs. Numerical simulation based on the finite-difference time-domain method was used to investigate the field distribution characteristics of the PHs. By rotating the patchy microcylinder, PHs with different curvatures can be effectively generated, and the PH with a bending angle of 28.4∘ and a full-width-half-maximum of 0.36 λ can be obtained from 1 μm-diameter patchy microcylinders.

Near-field focusing properties of microcylinders decorated with engineered metallic surface patches

“…Particles with an anisotropic refractive index distribution, such as Janus particles [17,18], are also suitable for the generation of PHs. In addition, PHs can be generated by partial or nonuniform illumination of symmetric and homogeneous particles [11,19], or by using dielectric particles partially covered with opaque films [20]. For example, Tang et al used 1 -35 µm diameter patchy microcylinders to generate PHs.…”

“…For example, Tang et al used 1 -35 µm diameter patchy microcylinders to generate PHs. Half of the cylinder surface is covered with silver films, and PHs with a bending angle of ∼ 28.4° can be generated under plane wave illumination [20].…”

Generation of S-shaped photonic hooks from microcylinders with engineered surface patches

“…Particles with an anisotropic refractive index distribution, such as Janus particles [18,19], are also suitable for the generation of PHs. In addition, PHs can be generated by partial or nonuniform illumination of symmetric and homogeneous particles [11,20], or by using dielectric particles partially covered with opaque films [21]. For example, Tang et al used 1 -35 µm diameter patchy microcylinders to generate PHs.…”

“…For example, Tang et al used 1 -35 µm diameter patchy microcylinders to generate PHs. Half of the cylinder surface is covered with silver films, and PHs with a bending angle of ∼ 28.4 • can be generated under plane wave illumination [21].…”

Photonic-hook enhanced microsphere-assisted label-free super-resolution imaging

“…3 In 2021, Tang et al theoretically investigated the influence of metal films on the generation of photonic hooks, and they found that the photonic hooks can be generated from patchy particle with a diameter between 1 µm to 35 µm. 4 Point source illumination can also be used to produce photonic hooks from patchy particles. 5 Here we reported the progress of using patchy particles for super-resolution imaging, and we showed that the performance of the imaging system can also be enhanced by coating microspheres with Al films.…”