Abstract
This work focuses on the strong nonlinear saturation absorption (NSA)-induced optical super-resolution effect. A multi-layer system model is proposed to understand the strong NSA-induced formation of an optical pinhole channel and the generation of a super-resolution spot. Taking a thin film as an example, numerical simulations were conducted. The results illustrate that an optical pinhole channel is clearly formed by the NSA characteristics. This pinhole channel is similar to a near-field light probe. Light travels through the pinhole channel, and a super-resolution spot is generated at its apex. The near-field spot scanning experimental results show that the reduction ratio of the spot is approximately 44.8%, which is basically consistent with the numerical simulation result of 43%. This work is helpful for understanding optical nonlinear super-resolution effects and developing nanolithography, nanodata storage, high-resolution optical imaging technologies with nonlinear thin films.
© 2014 Optical Society of America
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