Refraction limit of miniaturized optical systems: A ball-lens example

We study experimentally and theoretically the electromagnetic field in amplitude and phase behind ball-lenses across a wide range of diameters, ranging from a millimeter scale down to a micrometer. Based on the observation, we study the transition between the refraction and diffraction regime. The former regime is dominated by observables for which it is sufficient to use a ray-optical picture for an explanation, e.g., a cusp catastrophe and caustics. A wave-optical picture, i.e. Mie theory, is required to explain the features, e.g., photonic nanojets, in the latter regime. The vanishing of the cusp catastrophe and the emergence of the photonic nanojet is here understood as the refraction limit. Three different criteria are used to identify the limit: focal length, spot size, and amount of cross-polarization generated in the scattering process. We identify at a wavelength of 642 nm and while considering ordinary glass as the ball-lens material, a diameter of approximately 10 µm as the refraction limit. With our study, we shed new light on the means necessary to describe micro-optical system. This is useful when designing optical devices for imaging or illumination

Tunable invisibility cloaking by using isolated graphene-coated nanowires and dimers

Abstract We investigate, both theoretically and numerically, a graphene-coated nano-cylinder illuminated by a plane electromagnetic wave in the far-infrared range of frequencies. We have derived an analytical formula that enables fast evaluation of the spectral window with a substantial reduction in scattering efficiency for a sufficiently thin cylinder. This polarization-dependent effect leads to tunable resonant invisibility that can be achieved via modification of graphene chemical potential monitored by the gate voltage. A multi-frequency cloaking mechanism based on dimer coated nanowires is also discussed in detail