Dark Lines and Polarization Singularities in Bright Metasurface‐Enhanced Fluorescence
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: 2D scattering lattices can turn incoherent emitter ensembles into bright, spatially coherent sources, a well‐established concept in thermal emission control and solid‐state lighting communities. Here, a surprising phenomenon is reported: networks of sharp dark lines and polarization singularities in momentum space, observed alongside the usual bright light extraction features of plasmon antenna lattices optimized for extracting light from fluorophores in a 2D waveguide. Using Fourier microscopy with Stokes polarimetry, supported by reciprocity‐based T‐matrix calculations, these unexpected features are traced to destructive far‐field interference between transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) waveguide modes, diffractively coupled through the meta‐atoms. Remarkably, these modes generate strong elliptical far‐field polarization signatures, with cancellations leading to polarization singularities such as L‐lines, V‐points, and C‐points, analogous to those observed in the incoherent sunlight field in the sky.
Source: Laser & Photonics Review
Authors: Debapriya Pal, A. Femius Koenderink
Institution: Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Award: G8770583058
OpenAlex ID: W4411189397