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06:46
A Multimodal Wide-Field Fourier-Transform Raman Microscope
Published on: December 30, 2025
16
Information advantage in sensing revealed by Fano-resonant Fourier scatterometry
Nick Feldman1,2, Arie J den Boef2,3,4, Lyubov V Amitonova2,3
1Department of Information in Matter and Center for Nanophotonics, AMOLF, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Nature Communications
|December 10, 2025
Summary
Angle-resolved scattering analysis of Fano resonant nanostructures offers superior sensing capabilities compared to traditional spectral shift measurements. This Fourier scatterometry approach provides greater information content for detecting minute perturbations.
Area of Science:
- Nanophotonics and Metasurfaces
- Optical Sensing Technologies
- Scattering and Light-Matter Interactions
Background:
- Fano resonances in nanophotonic structures offer ultanarrow linewidths and high local fields, making them promising for sensing applications.
- Current sensing methods typically rely on detecting frequency shifts in Fano scattering spectra due to perturbations.
- Limitations exist in conventional spectral shift measurements for characterizing subtle perturbations in nanophotonic systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally demonstrate and theoretically investigate angle-resolved scattering analysis as a more informative sensing approach for Fano resonant nanostructures.
- To compare the quantitative sensing capabilities of conventional spectral shifts versus Fourier space analysis of scattering.
- To assess the Fisher information content of different readout schemes for nanophotonic sensing.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical modeling of how perturbations affect nanophotonic properties and far-field scattering responses in Fano resonant metasystems.
- Experimental characterization of subwavelength perturbations using both conventional spectral analysis and Fourier scatterometry.
- Quantitative comparison of sensing methods based on Fisher information content.
Main Results:
- Angle-resolved scattering analysis provides quantitatively more information than traditional spectral shift measurements for Fano resonant structures.
- Perturbations in dielectric metasurfaces induce significant directional scattering patterns in Fourier space.
- Fourier scatterometry demonstrates a clear information advantage over spectral methods for detecting deeply subwavelength perturbations.
Conclusions:
- Angle-resolved Fourier scatterometry is a powerful and highly sensitive technique for probing perturbations in nanophotonic Fano resonant systems.
- This advanced scattering analysis method surpasses conventional spectral readout schemes in terms of information content and detection capabilities.
- The findings pave the way for enhanced sensing applications utilizing Fano resonances in nanophotonics.
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