Vector diffraction analysis of high numerical aperture focused beams modified by two- and three-zone annular multi-phase plates

Abstract

Vector diffraction theory was applied to study the effect of two- and three-zone annular multi-phase plates (AMPs) on the three-dimensional point-spread-function (PSF) that results when linearly polarized light is focused using a high numerical aperture refractory lens. Conditions are identified for which a three-zone AMP generates a PSF that is axially superresolved by 19% with minimal change in the transverse profile and sufficiently small side lobes that the intensity pattern could be used for advanced photolithographic techniques, such as multi-photon 3D microfabrication, as well as multi-photon imaging. Conditions are also found in which a three-zone AMP generates a PSF that is axially elongated by 510% with only 1% change along the transverse direction. This intensity distribution could be used for sub-micron-scale laser drilling and machining.

Fighting against diffraction: apodization and near field diffraction structures

“…But for many applications a more important parameter is F, the intensity at the focus compared with the integrated power or intensity (these are not the same for nonparaxial sysyems) in the focal plane [27,115]. Maximum F is achieved for an amplitude filter, called a leaky filter, as this absorbs some energy that would otherwise appear in the side lobes [126][127][128]. 2-zone leaky filters can give simultaneous transverse and axial superresolution.…”

“…The performance parameters based on pupil moments has also been extended to the nonparaxial regime (for scalar and various different vectorial cases) [122][123][124][125], and various designs have also been presented [45,55,126]. If superresolving masks are used in confocal system, there is more flexibility in the design, and side-lobe strength can be reduced [127,128].…”

Tight focusing of double ring shaped radially polarized beam with high NA lens axicon

“…Here we consider only systems that comprise a diverging lens that has third-order spherical aberration and a perfect high NA converging lens. A schematic diagram of the suggested method is shown in [23] widely used for high-NA focusing systems at arbitrary incident polarization [24,25]. In the case of the radial incident polarization, adopting the cylindrical coordinates r, z and the notations of Ref.…”

Transverse superresolution with extended depth of focus using binary phase filters for optical storage system

“…However, most filters proposed for application in optical data storage in the past were designed using the scalar diffraction theory. The scalar theory is not accurate enough when NA is above 0.5 [13], and it is not suitable for actual optical storage systems (the values of NA of DVD, HD-DVD and blu-ray disc are 0.6, 0.65 and 0.85, respectively). Therefore, the vectorial behavior of the electricomagnetic fields has to be taken into account for actual optical data storage systems.…”

“…Therefore, the vectorial behavior of the electricomagnetic fields has to be taken into account for actual optical data storage systems. In the past decades, various filters were also designed using vectorial diffraction theory for different applications, such as axial superresolution for improving sectioning capability in three-dimensional imaging and three-dimensional optical storage [14], transverse superrsolution for all-optical magnetic recording [15], and extension of DOF for sub-micron-scale laser drilling and machining [13]. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies investigate binary phase filters (BPFs) which can achieve transverse Contents lists available at ScienceDirect…”