Fourier imaging for nanophotonics

Standard optical characterization and spectroscopy techniques rely on the measurement of specular reflection, transmission, or emission at normal incidence. Although the usefulness of these methods is without question, they do not provide information on the angular dependence of the scattered light and, therefore, miss crucial insights on the physical processes governing light emission and scattering. In this Review, we explain the basics of Fourier imaging and show how it can be used to measure the angular distribution of scattered light in single-shot measurements. We then give a comprehensive panorama on recent research exploiting this technique to analyze nanostructures and detail how it unlocks fundamental understandings on the underlying physics of nanophotonic structures. We finally describe how simple additions to a Fourier imaging setup enable measuring not only the radiation pattern of an object but also the energy, polarization, and phase toward resolving all aspects of light in real time.