Beyond-limit light focusing in the intermediate zone

We experimentally demonstrate that a new nanolens of designed plasmonic subwavelength aperture can focus light to a single-line with its width beyond the diffraction limit that sets the smallest achievable line width at half the wavelength. The measurements indicate that the effect of the near-field on the light focused is negligible in the intermediate zone of 2 < kr < 4 where the line-width is smaller than the limit. Thus, as a verification of theoretical prediction, the fields focused are radiative and with a momentum capable of propagating to the far zone as concerned by the limit.