Observation of nanojet-induced modes with small propagation losses in chains of coupled spherical cavities

Nanojet-induced modes (NIMs) and their attenuation properties are studied in linear chains consisting of tens of touching polystyrene microspheres with sizes in the 2 - 10 mu m range. To couple light to NIMs we used locally excited sources of light formed by several dye-doped fluorescent microspheres from the same chain of cavities. We directly observed the formation and propagation of NIMs by means of the scattering imaging technique. By measuring attenuation at long distances from the source, we demonstrate propagation losses for NIMs as small as 0.5 dB per sphere.