Optical image edge detection by transmissive metal-dielectric-metal structures

The feasibility of an optical image edge detection based on metal-insulator-metal (MIM) resonance transmission structures is experimentally investigated. The structures are fabricated on a glass substrate and consist of thin aluminum layers separated by a quartz layer. The excitation of Fabry-Perot modes by an incident wave produces resonance line shapes in angular and wavelength transmission spectra. Resonance enhancement and suppression of beams using the MIM structures can be implemented for suppressing the illuminating beam and amplifying the field scattered by an object. By using the MIM structure under oblique incidence, we experimentally observe the efficient image edge detection for phase optical elements at a set of wavelengths. The obtained images of edges of the elements exhibit a directionality of image edge detection that depends on the direction of inhomogeneity gradient in the object plane, as suggested by the angular transmission spectra of the MIM structures. The results of the present work can find applications in optical information processing and optical filtering systems.