Aberration-free ultra-thin flat lenses and axicons at telecom wavelengths based on plasmonic metasurfaces

Aberration-free ultra-thin flat lenses and axicons at telecom wavelengths based on plasmonic metasurfaces

| Francesco Aieta, Patrice Genevet, Mikhail A. Kats, Nanfang Yu, Romain Blanchard, Zeno Gaburro and Federico Capasso
The paper presents the design and experimental demonstration of aberration-free ultra-thin flat lenses and axicons at telecom wavelengths using plasmonic metasurfaces. The lenses and axicons are composed of a phased array of ultrathin subwavelength spaced V-shaped nanoantennas, which generate spherical wavefronts and non-diffracting Bessel beams, respectively. The design is based on the concept of optical phase discontinuities, where the phase distribution is hyperboloidal for lenses and conical for axicons. The fabrication process involves patterning a double-side-polished undoped silicon substrate with gold nano-antennas using electron beam lithography. The experimental results show excellent agreement with numerical simulations, demonstrating the potential for high numerical aperture lenses. The metasurfaces are designed to avoid monochromatic aberrations typically present in conventional refractive optics, making them suitable for applications in microscopy and other imaging tools. The authors also discuss the possibility of achieving subdiffraction focusing and super-resolution in far-field microscopy using plasmonic metasurfaces.The paper presents the design and experimental demonstration of aberration-free ultra-thin flat lenses and axicons at telecom wavelengths using plasmonic metasurfaces. The lenses and axicons are composed of a phased array of ultrathin subwavelength spaced V-shaped nanoantennas, which generate spherical wavefronts and non-diffracting Bessel beams, respectively. The design is based on the concept of optical phase discontinuities, where the phase distribution is hyperboloidal for lenses and conical for axicons. The fabrication process involves patterning a double-side-polished undoped silicon substrate with gold nano-antennas using electron beam lithography. The experimental results show excellent agreement with numerical simulations, demonstrating the potential for high numerical aperture lenses. The metasurfaces are designed to avoid monochromatic aberrations typically present in conventional refractive optics, making them suitable for applications in microscopy and other imaging tools. The authors also discuss the possibility of achieving subdiffraction focusing and super-resolution in far-field microscopy using plasmonic metasurfaces.
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