Abstract: The future of ultra-fast optical communication systems is inevitably connected with progress
in optical circuits and nanoantennas. One of the key points of this progress is the creation of
elementary components of optical devices with scattering diagrams tailored for redirecting the
incident light in a desired manner. Here we demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that a
small, simple, spatially homogeneous dielectric subwavelength sphere with a high refractive index
and low losses (as some semiconductors in the visible or near infrared region) exhibits properties
allowing to utilize it as a new multifunctional element for the mentioned devices. This can be
achieved by taking advantage of the coherent effects between dipolar and multipolar modes, which
produce anomalous scattering effects. The effects open a new way to control the directionality
of the scattered light. The directional tuning can be obtained in a practical way just by a change
in the frequency of the incident wave, and/or by a well-chosen diameter of the sphere. Dielectric
nanoparticles with the required optical properties in the VIS-NIR may be now readily fabricated.
These particles could be an efficient alternative to the widely discussed scattering units with a more
complicated design.
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Small Dielectric Spheres with High Refractive Index as New Multifunctional Elements for Optical Devices
Michael I. Tribelsky
, Jean-Michel Geffrin
, Amelie Litman
, Christelle Eyraud
& Fernando Moreno
Scientific Reports 5, Article number: 12288 (2015)
doi:10.1038/srep12288
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Physics
Sub-wavelength optics
Received:11 February 2015Accepted:18 June 2015Published online:23 July 2015
Abstract
The future of ultra-fast optical communication systems is inevitably connected with progress in optical circuits and nanoantennas. One of the key points of this progress is the creation of elementary components of optical devices with scattering diagrams tailored for redirecting the incident light in a desired manner. Here we demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that a small, simple, spatially homogeneous dielectric subwavelength sphere with a high refractive index and low losses (as some semiconductors in the visible or near infrared region) exhibits properties allowing to utilize it as a new multifunctional element for the mentioned devices. This can be achieved by taking advantage of the coherent effects between dipolar and multipolar modes, which produce anomalous scattering effects. The effects open a new way to control the directionality of the scattered light. The directional tuning can be obtained in a practical way just by a change in the frequency of the incident wave, and/or by a well-chosen diameter of the sphere. Dielectric nanoparticles with the required optical properties in the VIS-NIR may be now readily fabricated. These particles could be an efficient alternative to the widely discussed scattering units with a more complicated design.