The new method successfully improves the imaging resolution of superlenses by one order of magnitude
Article source: National Center for Nanoscience Release time: August 18, 2023
The use of polariton materials and metamaterials to construct superlenses can surpass the limits of traditional optical imaging resolution, achieve better observation of sub wavelength level microstructures and biomolecules, and have a broad and revolutionary impact on fields such as physical chips, chemical materials, and life sciences. In 2000, Sir John Pendry from Imperial College London first proposed the concept of superlenses and predicted their ability to break through the resolution limits of traditional optical imaging. Subsequently, Zhang Xiang, a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, took the lead in proposing an experimental scheme for a new silver polymer superlens, which greatly promoted the development and application of superlens technology. Since then, scientists from various countries have increased their research investment in superlenses, becoming a hot topic in the field of optics and widely used in biomedical, fiber optic communication, optical imaging and other scenarios. However, the optical loss of superlenses has always been a key scientific issue in this field, limiting further improvement in imaging resolution.
In order to solve this challenge, the team of academicians Zhang Shuang Zhang Xiang, a professor of the University of Hong Kong, together with Dai Qing, a researcher of the National Center for Nanoscience of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and John Pendry's team, proposed a practical solution, which uses the complex frequency wave method of multi frequency combination to generate virtual gain, thus offsetting the intrinsic loss of the optical system, and obtaining higher quality superlens imaging resolution. In order to verify the effectiveness of this theory, the collaborating team conducted experimental designs to synthesize complex frequency wave superlenses in both the microwave and optical frequency bands.
In recent years, the Dai Qing research group has been conducting long-term research on improving the interaction ability between light and matter, exploring the design of highly compressed polariton materials and devices under atomic manufacturing technology. They have accumulated rich experience in the field of near-field optical imaging technology, thus laying a strong experimental foundation for the design of polariton superlenses in the optical frequency band.
After in-depth discussions with Dai Qing's research group and collaborators, a silicon carbide phonon polariton superlens based on synthetic complex frequency waves was created, achieving a resolution improvement of about one order of magnitude in superlens imaging, which is expected to have a huge impact on the field of optical imaging. Therefore, the synthesis of complex frequency waves is a practical technique to overcome the intrinsic losses of photonics systems. It not only has outstanding performance in the field of superlens imaging, but can also be extended to other optical fields, such as polariton molecular sensing and waveguide devices. This method can also be customized for different systems and geometric shapes, providing a potential approach to improve multi band optical performance and design high-density integrated photonic chips.
Researchers have introduced that synthetic complex frequency wave technology is a practical method to overcome the intrinsic losses of photonics systems. It not only has outstanding performance in the field of superlens imaging, but can also be extended to other fields of optics, including polariton molecular sensing and waveguide devices. This method can also be customized for different systems and geometric shapes, providing a potential approach to improve multi band optical performance and design high-density integrated photonic chips.
"This is a universal method that can be extended to other wave systems to compensate for loss problems, such as sound waves, elastic waves, and quantum waves," said Zhang Xiang.
On August 18th, the relevant research results were published online in the journal Science. The above research work has been supported by the National Key Research and Development Program for Nanotechnology Frontiers and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
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