Minimal focal spot obtained by focusing circularly polarized light

Abstract

In this paper, using the Richards-Wolf equations, we analyze focusing circularly polarized light with flat diffractive lenses. It is shown that as the numerical aperture of the lens increases, the size of the focal spot first decreases and then begins to grow. The minimum focal spot is observed at NA=0.96 (FWHM=0.55λ). With a further increase in the numerical aperture of the lens, the growth of the longitudinal component leads to an increase in the size of the focal spot. When the flat diffractive lens is replaced by an aplanatic lens, the size of the focal spot decreases monotonically as the numerical aperture of the lens increases.