Far-field Compound Super-resolution Lens for direct laser writing of arbitrary nano patterns and beyond

Abstract

A low-cost compound super-resolution lens, consisting of a Plano-Convex lens and a Microsphere lens (PCM), was proposed and demonstrated for subwavelength direct laser scanning writing application. The PCM lens can achieve a far-field super-resolution of ~{\lambda}/3.5 in air (~6 um away from lens) which surpasses resolution limit of existing commercial objective lenses and is the first of its kind. Arbitrary nano-patterns can now be directly fabricated on various substrates in a simpleand low-cost manner using developed PCM lens. The lens can also be used for other applications including nano-imaging and sensing as well in a confocal configuration. This work may lead to the development of next-generation low-cost direct laser nanofabrication machine and superresolution imaging nanoscope.