Tailoring aberration-free photonic nanojets through the illumination of dielectric cylinders using cylindrical vector beams

Abstract

This study explores the manipulation of photonic nanojets (PNJs) via axial illumination of cylindrical dielectric particles with cylindrical vector beams (CVBs). The edge diffraction effect of cylindrical particles is harnessed to achieve the near-field focusing of CVBs, minimizing the spherical aberration’s impact on the quality of the PNJ. By discussing how beam width, refractive index, and particle length affect PNJs under radially polarized incidence, a simple and effective approach is demonstrated to generate rod-like PNJs with uniform transmission distances and super-diffraction-limited PNJs with pure longitudinal polarization. Azimuthal polarization, on the other hand, generates tube-like PNJs. These PNJs maintain their performance across scale. Combining edge diffraction with CVBs offers innovative PNJ modulation schemes, paving the way for potential applications in particle trapping, super-resolution imaging, photo-lithography, and advancing mesotronics and related fields.