GUIDING OF A ONE-DIMENSIONAL OPTICAL BEAM WITH NANOMETER DIAMETER

The concept of a one-dimensional optical wave and its waveguides are p roposed for what is to our knowledge the first time. The proposed wave guides are principally new and named for one-dimensional optical waveg uides. One-dimensional optical waveguides make it possible to guide ve ry thin optical beams in the visible or the near-infrared region with a diameter in the nanometer range. The propagation properties are anal yzed theoretically. The applications of the waveguides to optical devi ces in the nanometer range are discussed. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.