February 2011
Spotlight Summary by Brynmor Davis
Two-dimensional point spread matrix of layered metal–dielectric imaging elements
Koty?ski and coauthors characterize planar multilayers as LSI imaging systems and calculate the corresponding PSFs and transfer functions. They use a clear and tractable analysis to isolate several of the most interesting features of planar superlenses, for example: the significant differences between the transverse-electric and transverse-magnetic polarization responses due to surface plasmon resonance; the potential for the transfer of evanescent waves, giving rise to superresolution; and the strong coupling that can exist between polarization states. Similar to more traditional applications, the plotting of transfer functions and PSFs gives significant insight into the imaging properties of the planar superlens. As the authors show by example, the insight provided can be leveraged to modify the system to tailor the optical response. In the given example a diffractive nanostructure is designed, analyzed, and discussed. It should be noted however, that the addition of transverse structure (such as this nanostructure) does invalidate the shift-invariant nature of image formation by the multilayer.
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Article Information
Two-dimensional point spread matrix of layered metal–dielectric imaging elements
Rafał Kotyński, Tomasz J. Antosiewicz, Karol Król, and Krassimir Panajotov
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 28(2) 111-117 (2011) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF