Measuring three-dimensional polarization with scanning optical probes

Ultrathin waveguides for Bloch surface waves: Near-field analysis of propagation and polarization

“…The existence of such a PTM has already been demonstrated for a dielectric probe and for a paraxial (perpendicular to the probe axis) and linear input state of polarization (SOP) [10]. In our experiment, the calculations show the electric field E of the modes 0, 1, and 2 to be also paraxial: E is parallel to the multilayer interfaces and dominantly transverse ͑E x ͒.…”

“…TM) with respect to the basis. Moreover, due to some birefringence that may occur within the probe [10] and in the optical path from the probe to the detector, the initial SOPs of the modes 0, 1, and 2 may reach the detector slightly altered.…”

“…Optical measurements are performed using a MH-SNOM (see [10][11][12] and references therein), which is a modified version of a classical heterodyne SNOM. In standard heterodyne SNOM [16], the sample and the probe are placed into one arm-the object arm-of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.…”

“…In a multi-heterodyne SNOM, both the reference and the object arms are split again into two orthogonally polarized beams, and each of the four channels is shifted by a different frequency [10].…”

“…With the aim of gaining a better understanding of the field distribution in these waveguides, we report on the use of a multi-heterodyne scanning near-field optical microscope (MH-SNOM) [10][11][12][13][14] for the investigation of the modes sustained by the structure. In particular, the polarization characteristics of these modes are investigated.…”