Apparatus comprising a tunable nanomechanical near-field grating and method for controlling far-field emission
US7173764B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 22, 2004 |
| Grant date | Feb 6, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 29, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B26/0808
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A tunable nanomechanical near-field grating is disclosed which is capable of varying the intensity of a diffraction mode of an optical output signal. The tunable nanomechanical near-field grating includes two sub-gratings each having line-elements with width and thickness less than the operating wavelength of light with which the grating interacts. Lateral apertures in the two sub-gratings are formed from the space between one line-element of the first sub-grating and at least one line-element of the second sub-grating. One of the sub-gratings is capable of motion such that at least one of aperture width and aperture depth changes, causing a perturbation to the near-field intensity distribution of the tunable nanomechanical near-field grating and a corresponding change to the far-field emission of thereof.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.