Maximizing the electric field strength in the foci of high numerical aperture optics

Abstract

Several applications require spatial distributions of the incident electric field that maximize the electric field at a focal point for a given input power. The field distributions are derived for various optical systems in a direct way based on fundamental physical properties. The results may prove useful for a wide range of applications, e.g., microscopy, scattering experiments or excitation of single atoms. For commonly used distributions - fundamental Gaussian modes and doughnut modes - we give the upper bounds of the achievable field amplitudes.

arXiv comment9 pages, 8 figures, rewritten Sec. II (contains now a revised derivation of the central formula which was in Sec. V in former versions), rewritten Sec. V (some additional examples added -> new Fig. 8), inclusion of some references to publications that appeared since the last version

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