Probing the Magnetic Field of Light at Optical Frequencies

Measuring Magnetic Light Compared to its electric component, the coupling between the magnetic field component of light and matter is usually extremely weak. With no effective way to measure it, we are effectively blind to light's magnetic component. Burresi et al. (p. 550, published online 1 October; see the Perspective by Giessen and Vogelgesang) coupled a metamaterial split-ring resonator to the tip of a scanning probe to measure the magnetic field vector of light at optical frequencies. The ability to measure the magnetic component of light should prove useful for the nanoscale characterization of optical waveguides and other optical devices. A split-ring resonator coupled to a scanning probe is used to measure the weak magnetic component of light. Light is an electromagnetic wave composed of oscillating electric and magnetic fields, the one never occurring without the other. In light-matter interactions at optical frequencies, the magnetic component of light generally plays a negligible role. When we “see” or detect light, only its electric field is perceived; we are practically blind to its magnetic component. We used concepts from the field of metamaterials to probe the magnetic field of light with an engineered near-field aperture probe. We visualized with subwavelength resolution the magnetic- and electric-field distribution of propagating light.

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