Nano C-apertures applied to near-field inspection and data storage
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The restriction of optical spot sizes to the diffraction limit of ~lambda/2 is a long standing problem in optical imaging and optical data storage. As the length scales of interest to scientists and engineers have decreased, the need for a way to efficiently focus light to spot sizes of < lambda/10 has become more pressing. Near-field optical techniques are the only solution to optical probing at the deeply sub-wavelength scale, but the existing methods of solid immersion lenses, sharp probe tips and sub-wavelength apertures (NSOM) are all hampered by significant deficiencies. The nano C-aperture is a superior near-field optical source and FDTD simulations have shown that it is able to produce very small and intense near-field optical spots. Unfortunately, conventional fabrication methods are incapable of producing C-apertures that fully realize the high, absolute field intensities promised by simulations. Using a new silicon nitride membrane based fabrication method, the performance of the C-aperture can be greatly enhanced both in the near and far-field. In this dissertation, I present data demonstrating the improvements in transmitted power and near-field spot size offered by this new fabrication technique and I apply the improved apertures to near-field inspection and optical data storage. I show that the near-field spot can be used for optical imaging at a resolution of lambda/10 with an optical intensity ~10x higher than conventionally-fabricated C-apertures. Finally, I show that the improved C-aperture can be used to record and read data bits in a phase change recording medium (Ge2Sb2Te5) with minimum bit sizes of 53.5x50.2 nm or ~lambda/20.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2010 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Leen, John Brian |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Applied Physics |
| Primary advisor | Hesselink, Lambertus |
| Thesis advisor | Hesselink, Lambertus |
| Thesis advisor | Miller, D. A. B |
| Thesis advisor | Pease, R. (R. Fabian W.) |
| Advisor | Miller, D. A. B |
| Advisor | Pease, R. (R. Fabian W.) |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | John Brian Leen. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Applied Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2010. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2010 by John Brian Leen
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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