Meta-instrument: high speed positioning and tracking platform for near-field optical imaging microscopes

Abstract: High resolution and high throughput imaging are typically mutually exclusive. The meta-instrument pairs high resolution optical concepts such as nano-antennas, superoscillatory lenses and hyperlenses with a miniaturized opto-mechatronic platform for precise and high speed positioning of the optical elements at lens-to-sample separations that are measured in tens of nanometers. Such platform is a necessary development for bringing near-field optical imaging techniques to their industrial application. Towards this purpose, we present two designs and proof-of-principle instruments that are aimed at realizing sub-nanometer positional precision with a 100 kHz bandwidth.