Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Directional light beams by design from electrically driven elliptical slit antennas
Shuiyan Cao1, Eric Le Moal1, Quanbo Jiang2
1Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay (ISMO), CNRS, Univ Paris Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91405 Orsay, France.
Abstract:
We report on the low-energy, electrical generation of light beams in specific directions from planar elliptical microstructures. The emission direction of the beam is determined by the microstructure eccentricity. A very simple, broadband, optical antenna design is used, which consists of a single elliptical slit etched into a gold film. The light beam source is driven by an electrical nanosource of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) that is located at one focus of the ellipse. In this study, SPPs are generated through inelastic electron tunneling between a gold surface and the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope.
Related Concept Videos
Design of Prismatic Beams for Bending
The Antenna Complex
Beams
Based on geometry, beams can be straight, tapered, or curved. Straight beams are the most common type and have a constant cross-section throughout their length. Tapered beams, on the other hand, have a varying cross-section along...
Group Design
Deflection of a Beam
Singularity functions, described in an earlier lesson, are powerful mathematical tools that represent discontinuities within a function commonly encountered in structural loading...
The Wave Nature of Light

