Dynamically generating a large-area confined optical field with subwavelength feature size

• DOI: 10.1364/ao.53.006091
• Publication Date: 2014-09-08T20:20:04Z
• Authors: Liangfu Zhu; Douguo Zhang; Xiangxian Wang; Yikai Chen; Dong Qiu; Pei Wang; Hai Ming
• Keywords: Prism

By using a prism of high refractive index, free-space cylindrical vector beams can be selectively converted into confined optical fields with large area, such as surface plasmon polaritons or waveguide modes, whose interference will produce features at the nanometer scale. Due to polarization sensitivity these macroscopic distribution field dynamically manipulated through an electronically driven liquid crystal. Based on phenomena, promising maskless nanolithography is proposed and experimentally demonstrated.