Polarization Confocal Technology Introduction


3. Polarization Longitudinal Slit (PLS) Characteristics

A unique function, not provided by the pinhole, of dividing the light is made possible by the PLS.
Conventionally only the focused light is transmitted. However, by rotating the analyzer it is possible to transmit all the light, the focused light, or only the defocused light.

Concept of Confocal Imaging

4. PLS photonic crystal wave-plate array

It is necessary that two wave-plates with different anisotropic axes meet with a sharp boundary to achieve efficient polarization longitudinal slit functionality. A wave-plate with such a boundary can be implemented as an autocloned photonic crystal. The figure below shows an SEM of the boundary of a prototype photonic crystal wave-plate array fabricated for experimental purposes.

Principle of the PLS PLS SEM

5. Applications

The range of applicability of the polarization longitudinal slit extends beyond microscopy.
As an example, it is possible deployment to decrease crosstalk between the layers of multilayer optical media is currently being developed. In addition, we are currently evaluating several novel applications.