Subwavelength optical imaging with an array of silver nanorods

Tailoring the parameters of a silver nanorod array for subwavelength imaging of arbitrary coherent sources is of recent interest. We evaluated the operational bandwidth of this type of superlens, and also the impact of source-offset in order to understand the level of tolerance offered by the superlens with regard to source location. The performance of the device was analyzed numerically both through analysis of transmission and reflection coefficients and by full-wave simulation for a particular sample source arrangement. We observed that such a device exhibited better imaging performances with the sources spread wider, offering a bandwidth of around 13.5%. (C) 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.3577703]