Apparatus comprising a tunable nanomechanical near-field grating and method for controlling far-field emission

Patent · 06 February 2007

OSTI ID:902828

Carr, Dustin Wade ^[1]; Bogart, Gregory Robert ^[2]

---

1. Albuquerque, NM
2. Corrales, NM

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.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM
• Sponsoring Organization: United States Department of Energy
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• Assignee: Sandia Corporation (Albuquerque, NM)
• Patent Number(s): 7,173,764
• Application Number: 10/829,782
• OSTI ID: 902828
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION