Overcoming optical contrast limit of mesoscale light focusing by means of retrograde-reflection photonic nanojet

Abstract: The physical origin of subwavelength photonic nanojet in retrograde-reflection mode (retro-PNJ) is theoretically considered. This specific type of photonic nanojet emerges upon sequential double focusing of a plane optical wave by a transparent dielectric microparticle located near a flat reflecting mirror. For the first time to the best of our knowledge, we report a unique property of retro-PNJ for increasing its focal length and intensity using microparticles with the optical contrast exceeding limiting value (n > 2) that fundamentally distinguishes retro-PNJ from regular PNJ behavior. This may drastically increase the trapping potential of PNJ-based optical tweezers.