Influence of the local scattering environment on the localization precision of single particles

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the local scattering environment affects the fundamental limits of localizing single particles, revealing different behaviors for weakly and strongly scattering targets and offering insights for enhanced sensing and imaging.

Contribution

It introduces a numerical analysis of localization precision considering environmental scattering effects, highlighting the role of local density of states and dressed polarizability.

Findings

Localization precision improves with local density of states for weak scatterers.

For strong scatterers, precision depends on dressed polarizability including environmental back action.

Wavefront shaping can control scattered light information content for applications in sensing and imaging.

Abstract

We study the fundamental limit on the localization precision for a subwavelength scatterer embedded in a strongly scattering environment, using the external degrees of freedom provided by wavefront shaping. For a weakly scattering target, the localization precision improves with the value of the local density of states at the target position. For a strongly scattering target, the localization precision depends on the dressed polarizability that includes the back action of the environment. This numerical study provides new insights for the control of the information content of scattered light by wavefront shaping, with potential applications in sensing, imaging, and nanoscale engineering.