The smallest structures that conventional lenses are able to optically resolve are of the order of 200 nm. We introduce a new type of lens that exploits multiple scattering of light to generate a scanning nano-sized optical focus. With an experimental realization of this lens in gallium phosphide we imaged gold nanoparticles at 97 nm optical resolution. Our work is the first lens that provides a resolution in the nanometer regime at visible wavelengths.

doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.193905
Phys. Rev. Lett.

van Putten, E. G., Akbulut, D., Bertolotti, J., Vos, W. L., Lagendijk, A., & Mosk, A. (2011). Scattering lens resolves sub-100 nm structures with visible light. Phys.Rev.Lett., 106(Article number: 193905), 1–4. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.193905