Near-field focusing and magnification through self-assembled nanoscale spherical lenses

Ju Young Lee, Byung Hee Hong, Woo Youn Kim, Seung Kyu Min, Yukyung Kim, Mikhail V. Jouravlev, Ranojoy Bose, Keun Soo Kim, In-Chul Hwang, Laura J. Kaufman, Chee Wei Wong, Philip Kim () and Kwang S. Kim ()
Additional contact information
Ju Young Lee: Center for Superfunctional Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Hyojadong, Namgu, Pohang 790-784, Korea
Byung Hee Hong: Center for Superfunctional Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Hyojadong, Namgu, Pohang 790-784, Korea
Woo Youn Kim: Center for Superfunctional Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Hyojadong, Namgu, Pohang 790-784, Korea
Seung Kyu Min: Center for Superfunctional Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Hyojadong, Namgu, Pohang 790-784, Korea
Yukyung Kim: Center for Superfunctional Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Hyojadong, Namgu, Pohang 790-784, Korea
Mikhail V. Jouravlev: Center for Superfunctional Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Hyojadong, Namgu, Pohang 790-784, Korea
Ranojoy Bose: Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Keun Soo Kim: Sungkyunkwan University
In-Chul Hwang: Center for Superfunctional Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Hyojadong, Namgu, Pohang 790-784, Korea
Laura J. Kaufman: Department of Chemistry,
Chee Wei Wong: Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Philip Kim: Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
Kwang S. Kim: Center for Superfunctional Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Hyojadong, Namgu, Pohang 790-784, Korea

Nature, 2009, vol. 460, issue 7254, 498-501

Abstract: Nanolenses beat the barrier The performance of a light microscope is intrinsically constrained by the Abbe diffraction limit. No matter how close to optical perfection it is, an imaging system cannot resolve two objects that are beyond this natural limit, which is dependent on the wavelength of the observed light and its angular distribution. Several methods have been devised to beat the diffraction limit, but these have generally required esoteric excitation schemes, so remain impractical. Lee et al. are working on a new way of beating the limit, using nanoscale spherical lenses that self-assemble by bottom-up integration of cup-shaped organic molecules called calixarenes. Lenses produced in this way have very short focal lengths that can generate near-field magnification beyond the diffraction limit, enabling the resolution of features of the order of 200 nm. The lenses can be placed at will on a surface and, among other things, can be used to reduce the size of deep-ultraviolet lithography features.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08173

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