Roadmap on Label-Free Super-Resolution Imaging.

Label-free super-resolution (LFSR) imaging relies on light-scattering processes in nanoscale objects without a need for fluorescent (FL) staining required in super-resolved FL microscopy. The objectives of this Roadmap are to present a comprehensive vision of the developments, the state-of-the-art in this field, and to discuss the resolution boundaries and hurdles which need to be overcome to break the classical diffraction limit of the LFSR imaging. The scope of this Roadmap spans from the advanced interference detection techniques, where the diffraction-limited lateral resolution is combined with unsurpassed axial and temporal resolution, to techniques with true lateral super-resolution capability which are based on understanding resolution as an information science problem, on using novel structured illumination, near-field scanning, and nonlinear optics approaches, and on designing superlenses based on nanoplasmonics, metamaterials, transformation optics, and microsphere-assisted approaches.

Broadband transfer of binary images via optically long wire media.

In the paper the binary mechanism of the long-distance image transfer in a wire-medium (WM) endoscope is suggested and studied. We have shown that a discrete image formed by a set of point sources TM-polarized with respect to the WM can be transferred from the input to the output of the endoscope in a very broad frequency band. The underlying physics is the formation of local channels by a group of four adjacent wires.

Ionically Gated Small-Molecule OPV: Interfacial Doping of Charge Collector and Transport Layer.

We demonstrate an improvement in the performance of organic photovoltaic (OPV) systems based on small molecules by ionic gating via controlled reversible n-doping of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) coated on fullerene electron transport layers (ETLs): C and C. Such electric double-layer charging (EDLC) doping, achieved by ionic liquid (IL) charging, allows tuning of the electronic concentration in MWCNTs and the fullerene planar acceptor layers, increasing it by orders of magnitude. This leads to the decrease of the series and increase of the shunt resistances of OPVs and allows use of thick (up to 200 nm) ETLs, increasing the durability of OPVs.

The dual-mode dipole: A new array element for 7T body imaging with reduced SAR.

Purpose: To design and test an RF-coil based on two orthogonal eigenmodes in a pair of coupled dipoles, for 7 Tesla body imaging with improved SAR, called dual-mode dipole.

Methods: The proposed coil consists of two dipoles and creates two orthogonal field distributions in a sample (the even and odd modes). A coupler used to excite the modes was miniaturized with the conductor track routing technique.

Unusual eigenmodes of wire-medium endoscopes: impact on transmission properties.

Wire-medium endoscopes represent a promising tool of THz sensing/imaging. Bending should not critically harm the endoscope operation and the issue of bending losses is that of key importance for any endoscope. In this paper we show that the frequency-averaged power transmittance of a wire-medium endoscope is weakly sensitive to the bending.

Wide-angle light-trapping electrode for photovoltaic cells.

In this Letter, we experimentally show that a submicron layer of a transparent conducting oxide that may serve a top electrode of a photovoltaic cell based on amorphous silicon when properly patterned by notches becomes an efficient light-trapping structure. This is so for amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells with properly chosen thicknesses of the active layers (p-i-n structure with optimal thicknesses of intrinsic and doped layers). The nanopatterned layer of transparent conducting oxide reduces both the light reflectance from the photovoltaic cell and transmittance through the photovoltaic layers for normal incidence and for all incidence angles.

An antenna model for the Purcell effect.

The Purcell effect is defined as a modification of the spontaneous emission rate of a quantum emitter at the presence of a resonant cavity. However, a change of the emission rate of an emitter caused by an environment has a classical counterpart. Any small antenna tuned to a resonance can be described as an oscillator with radiative losses, and the effect of the environment on its radiation can be modeled and measured in terms of the antenna radiation resistance, similar to a quantum emitter.

Demonstration of unusual nanoantenna array modes through direct reconstruction of the near-field signal.

We perform complex investigation of the distribution of electromagnetic fields in the vicinity of an array of silver nanoantennas, which can operate as an efficient light trapping structure in the visible spectral range. In theory, this array should support unusual collective modes that possess an advantageous distribution of local electric fields, ensuring both strong field localization beneath nanoantennas and a low level of optical losses inside the metal. Using an aperture-type near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM), we obtain near-field patterns that show excellent agreement with the NSOM signal, directly reconstructed from rigorous numerical simulations using an approach based on the electromagnetic reciprocity theorem.

Superdirective dielectric nanoantennas.

We introduce the novel concept of superdirective nanoantennas based on the excitation of higher-order magnetic multipole moments in subwavelength dielectric nanoparticles. Our superdirective nanoantenna is a small Si nanosphere containing a notch, and is excited by a dipole located within the notch. In addition to extraordinary directivity, this nanoantenna demonstrates efficient radiation steering at the nanoscale, resulting from the subwavelength sensitivity of the beam radiation direction to variation of the source position inside the notch.

Topological darkness in self-assembled plasmonic metamaterials.

Self-assembled plasmonic metamaterials are fabricated from silver nanoparticles covered with a silica shell. These metamaterials demonstrate topological darkness or selective suppression of reflection connected to global properties of the Fresnel coefficients. The optical properties of the studied structures are in good agreement with effective medium theory.

Enhanced efficiency of light-trapping nanoantenna arrays for thin-film solar cells.

We suggest a new type of efficient light-trapping structures for thin-film solar cells based on arrays of planar nanoantennas operating far from their plasmon resonances. The operation principle of our structures relies on the excitation of collective modes of the nanoantenna arrays whose electric field is localized between the adjacent metal elements. We calculate a substantial enhancement of the short-circuit photocurrent for photovoltaic layers as thin as 100-150 nm.

Optimization of radiative heat transfer in hyperbolic metamaterials for thermophotovoltaic applications.

Using our recently developed method we analyze the radiative heat transfer in micron-thick multilayer stacks of metamaterials with hyperbolic dispersion. The metamaterials are especially designed for prospective thermophotovoltaic systems. We show that the huge transfer of near-infrared thermal radiation across micron layers of metamaterials is achievable and can be optimized.

Wire metamaterials: physics and applications.

The physics and applications of a broad class of artificial electromagnetic materials composed of lattices of aligned metal rods embedded in a dielectric matrix are reviewed. Such structures are here termed wire metamaterials. They appear in various settings and can operate from microwaves to THz and optical frequencies.

Broadband electromagnetic cloaking of long cylindrical objects.

Electromagnetic cloaks are devices that make objects undetectable for probing with electromagnetic waves. The known realizations of transformational-optics cloaks require materials with exotic electromagnetic properties and offer only limited performance in narrow frequency bands. Here, we demonstrate a wideband and low-loss cloak whose operation is not based on the use of exotic electromagnetic materials, which are inevitably dispersive and lossy.

Subwavelength resolution for horizontal and vertical polarization by coupled arrays of oblate nanoellipsoids.

A structure comprising a coupled pair of two-dimensional arrays of oblate plasmonic nanoellipsoids in a dielectric host medium is proposed as a superlens in the optical domain for both horizontal and vertical polarizations. By means of simulations it is demonstrated that a structure formed by silver nanoellipsoids is capable of restoring subwavelength features of the object for both polarizations at distances larger than half wavelength. The bandwidth of subwavelength resolution is in all cases very large (above 13%).

Ultimate limit of resolution of subwavelength imaging devices formed by metallic rods.

It is demonstrated that the ultimate physical limit of resolution of novel imaging devices based on arrays of metallic rods is determined by the skin depth of the metal. Our theoretical and numerical results show that wire medium lenses may provide a unique solution for subwavelength imaging at frequencies up to the terahertz range and may enable image formation at a significant distance from the source plane.

Subwavelength metallic waveguides loaded by uniaxial resonant scatterers.

The dispersion properties of rectangular metallic waveguides periodically loaded by uniaxial resonant scatterers are studied with help of an analytical theory based on the local field approach, the dipole approximation, and the method of images. The cases of both magnetic and electric uniaxial scatterers with both longitudinal and transverse orientations with respect to the waveguide axis are considered. It is shown that in all considered cases waveguides support propagating modes below the cutoff of the hollow waveguide within some frequency bands near the resonant frequency of the individual scatterers.

Homogenization of electromagnetic crystals formed by uniaxial resonant scatterers.

Dispersion properties of electromagnetic crystals formed by small uniaxial resonant scatterers (magnetic or electric) are studied using the local field approach. The goal of the study is to determine the conditions under which the homogenization of such crystals is possible. Therefore the consideration is limited to the frequency region where the wavelength in the host medium is larger than the lattice periods.