Photonic jet shaping of mesoscale dielectric spherical particles: Resonant and non-resonant jet formation

A descriptive analysis of the morphological shapes of photonic jets (PJs) these being a specific spatially localized and high-intensity area formed near micron-sized transparent spherical dielectric particles illuminated by a visible laser radiation, is presented. The PJ shape characterization is based on the numerical calculations of the near-field distribution according to the Mie theory and accounts for jet dimensions and shape complexity. The special situation of the morphology-dependent resonances excitation in the internal field of the particle is also considered.

► Near-field light scattering on a microparticle has a form of a “photonic jet”. ► Jet shape highly depends on particle size, structure and optical characteristics. ► Upon resonant excitation jet parameters depend on the MDR's Q-factor. ► Qualitative analysis of the morphological types of photonic jets. ► Two morphological classes of jets are introduced supplemented by the attributes.