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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Demonstration of a Hyperlens-integrated Microscope and Super-resolution Imaging

Demonstration of a Hyperlens-integrated Microscope and Super-resolution Imaging

Published on: September 8, 2017

Enhanced resolution beyond the Abbe diffraction limit with wavelength-scale solid immersion lenses.

Daniel R Mason¹, Mikhail V Jouravlev, Kwang S Kim

¹Center for Superfunctional Materials, Department of Chemistry, Pohang University of Science and Technology, San 31, Hyojadong, Namgu, Pohang 790-784, South Korea.

|June 16, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Nanoscale solid immersion lenses (nSIL) offer improved resolution for optical imaging. Calculations show nSIL systems achieve over 25% smaller focal spot sizes than conventional SIL devices.

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Area of Science:

Optics
Nanotechnology
Materials Science

Background:

The solid immersion lens (SIL) is a mature near-field optical technology utilized in imaging and data storage.
Recent advancements have introduced nanoscale SIL (nSIL) implementations, enabling high-quality imaging beyond the diffraction limit.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the achievable resolution limits of nanoscale solid immersion lenses (nSIL).
To quantify the focal spot size reduction offered by nSIL systems compared to conventional SIL.

Main Methods:

Utilized full three-dimensional, finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculations.
Modeled an objective-lens-nSIL system to analyze focal spot characteristics.

Main Results:

Demonstrated that the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the focal spot in an objective-lens-nSIL system is significantly reduced.
Achieved a focal spot FWHM reduction of greater than 25% compared to a standard macroscopic SIL.

Conclusions:

Nanoscale solid immersion lenses (nSIL) offer superior resolution capabilities compared to conventional SIL.
The findings provide quantitative evidence for the enhanced imaging performance of nSIL systems.