Numerical and experimental study on multi-focal metallic Fresnel zone plates designed by the phase selection rule via virtual point sources

We propose a novel design method for multi-focal metallic Fresnel zone plates (MFZPs), which exploits the phase selection rule by putting virtual point sources (VPSs) at the desired focal points distant to the MFZP plane. The phase distribution at the MFZP plane reciprocally formed by the VPSs was quantized in a binary manner based on the phase selection rule, thereby leading to a corresponding on-off amplitude pattern for the targeted MFZP. The resultant phase distribution was dependent on the complex amplitudes of the VPSs, so that they could be determined from the perspective of both multi-focal functionality and fabrication feasibility. As a typical example, we utilized the particle swarm optimization algorithm to determine them. Based on the proposed method, we designed and numerically analyzed two types of novel MFZPs—one for a monochromatic multi-focal application and the other for a multi-chromatic mono-focal application—verifying the effectiveness and validity of the proposed method. We also fabricated them onto Au-deposited glass substrates, using electron beam evaporation and a focused ion beam milling process. We experimentally characterized them and also verified that they successfully demonstrated their feasibilities. The former produced distinct hot spots at three different focal distances of 10, 15, and 20 μ m for monochromatic incidence at 650 nm, and the latter produced a single hot spot at a focal distance of 15 μ m for multi-chromatic incidence at 660, 532, and 473 nm. The experimental results were also in good agreement with their corresponding numerical results. We expect that both MFZPs will have various applications, such as laser micromachining, optical trapping, biomedical sensing, confocal collimation, achromatic optics, etc.