Metallic planar lens formed by coupled width-variable nanoslits for superfocusing

We report a metallic planar lens based on the coupled nanoslits with variable widths for superfocusing. The influence of the interaction between two adjacent nanoslits on the phase delay is systematically investigated using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Based on the geometrical optics and the wavefront reconstruction theory, an array of nanoslits perforated in a gold film is optimally designed to achieve the desired phase modulation for light beaming. The simulation result verifies our design in excellent agreement and the realized metallic lens reveals the superfocusing capability of 0.38λ in resolution, well beyond the diffraction limit.