New superlens has potential to circumvent classical optics laws

Header Image. An artist’s conception of the superlens compressing a laser beam into more manageable, lower-wavelength electromagnetic oscillations. Scroll down for a more accurate graphic representation. Credit: Daria Sokol/MIPT Press Office

Russian and Danish researchers have made a first-ever experimental observation of a plasmon nanojet. This physical phenomenon enables nanoscale focusing of light and, theoretically, allows engineers to bypass one of the fundamental limitations of the ordinary converging lens. Tight compression of light waves is necessary to use them as signal carriers in compact devices that would…