Laser conferral of a directed character to near-field energy transfer

With sufficient intensity, an off-resonant laser beam can modify the character of electromagnetic near-field radiation produced by a nanoscale point source, narrowing its spatial distribution. The mechanism, for which the laser frequency is significantly off-resonant from the emission radiation, is detailed and analyzed through a quantum electrodynamical analysis. Results are calculated for various positions of a polarization-sensitive probe relative to the point source, sited within the throughput beam, and contour maps exhibit variations in the registered signal over a range of input intensities. A key feature is the clear exhibition of directed propagation features, usually emergent only in the wave zone, within the near-field region of the source. © 2009 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.