Vector field microscopic imaging of light

Phase-Resolved Mapping of the Near-Field Vector and Polarization State in Nanoscale Antenna Gaps

“…Because of their three-dimensional, complex-valued polarization state (vector field), however, nanoscale confined optical near fields are highly complex and thus are challenging experimental imaging techniques. 5,6 Generally, the local near field at a sample surface is described by a three-dimensional vector E ) (E x , E y , E z ), where each near-field component E j is characterized by both a field amplitude |E j | and a phase j .6,7 While strong field amplitudes at specific sample locations open new avenues for example in vibrational spectroscopy of single molecules, [8][9][10] it is the phase distribution that is essential for nanoscale coherent control applications.11-13 The phase difference δ ij ) j -i between individual components is thereby a fundamental quantity as it determines the polarization state of the vector near field.6 For example, a phase difference of δ ij ) 0°or 180°(for all i,j) defines linearly polarized local fields, while δ ij ) (90°and |E i | ) |E j | yields circularly polarized near fields. Engineering of the individual phases thus can be applied to control 14 the near field polarization state for novel nanophotonic applications in, e.g., quantum optics 15 or solid state physics.…”

“…Because of their three-dimensional, complex-valued polarization state (vector field), however, nanoscale confined optical near fields are highly complex and thus are challenging experimental imaging techniques. 5,6 Generally, the local near field at a sample surface is described by a three-dimensional vector E ) (E x , E y , E z ), where each near-field component E j is characterized by both a field amplitude |E j | and a phase j .…”

“…Because of their three-dimensional, complex-valued polarization state (vector field), however, nanoscale confined optical near fields are highly complex and thus are challenging experimental imaging techniques. 5,6 Generally, the local near field at a sample surface is described by a three-dimensional vector E ) (E x , E y , E z ), where each near-field component E j is characterized by both a field amplitude |E j | and a phase j . 6,7 While strong field amplitudes at specific sample locations open new avenues for example in vibrational spectroscopy of single molecules, [8][9][10] it is the phase distribution that is essential for nanoscale coherent control applications.…”

Imaging and spectroscopy through plasmonic nano-probe

“…When a high NA objective lens tightly focuses a linearly polarized light, the resulting polarization at the focal plane consists of both p and s-components [51,52]. Besides this polarization admixture, the field intensity distributions of each component cause a problem when the spatial resolution is down to nanometer scale.…”

Full vectorial mapping of the complex electric near-fields of THz resonators

“…[32][33][34][35] These techniques offer a high spatial resolution but the detected field at different positions is a superposition of different field components. 36 Vectorial mapping of near electromagnetic fields at THz frequencies offers the potential to gather full information as local fields rather than intensity, which can be measured as a function of time.…”