Highly Reproducible Near-Field Optical Imaging with Sub-20-nm Resolution Based on Template-Stripped Gold Pyramids

Johnson, Timothy W.; Lapin, Zachary J.; Beams, Ryan; Lindquist, Nathan C.; Rodrigo, Sergio G.; Novotny, Lukas; Oh, Sang Hyun

doi:10.1021/nn303496g

Cited by 135 publications

(173 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(72 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

162

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Single crystal samples on glass were prepared by first sonicating a dilution of diamond nanocrystals and then spin coating onto the glass substrate. The Ag tips were prepared as in [29]. To avoid oxidation, the Ag tips were kept in their silicon template until just before use.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanoscale Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging of an Optical Antenna with a Single Diamond NV Center

et al. 2013

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:Solid-state quantum emitters, such as artificially engineered quantum dots or naturally occurring defects in solids, are being investigated for applications ranging from quantum information science and optoelectronics to biomedical imaging. Recently, these same systems have also been studied from the perspective of nanoscale metrology. In this letter we study the near-field optical properties of a diamond nanocrystal hosting a single nitrogen vacancy center. We find that the nitrogen vacancy center is a sensitive probe of the surrounding electromagnetic mode structure. We exploit this sensitivity to demonstrate nanoscale fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) with a single nitrogen vacancy center by imaging the local density of states of an optical antenna.Controlled interaction of light and matter at the nanoscale requires a detailed understanding of the local electromagnetic mode distribution. It has been recognized for some time that, in contrast to the homogeneity exhibited by the vacuum electromagnetic modes in free space, surfaces and nanostructured environments can sculpt the local electromagnetic mode density or local density of optical states (LDOS). A manifestation of this modification, as first pointed out by Purcell [1], is that the excited state lifetime of a quantum object is not an immutable property, but depends sensitively on the system's . Important for the present work is that the NV center exhibits stable photoluminescence at room temperature (unlike most quantum dots that suffer from blinking) and the center's optical properties are preserved when the diamond host takes the form of a nanocrystal. In the following we exploit the previous features to demonstrate, for the first time, the suitability of the NV center for nanoscale FLIM by imaging a nanoscale optical antenna [28].The top panel of Fig. 1a presents an illustration of the FLIM concept. In the first modality a single quantum system (the "probe") is affixed to the vertex of a nanoscale tip and a sample to be interrogated (the "object") is scanned in close proximity to the emitter. The object perturbs the local electromagnetic environment of the probe and modifies its excited state dynamics that can be recorded as a function of the object's x-y coordinates to build an image. A second approach, followed in the present work, is to fix the probe in space, see bottom panel of Fig. 1a, and scan the object through the focus. Again, by monitoring the probe lifetime an image can be recorded. In our experiments a single NV center in a diamond nanocrystal is our probe of the nanoscale LDOS created by the object.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanoscale Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging of an Optical Antenna with a Single Diamond NV Center

et al. 2013

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This nanofocusing can be achieved using various tapered metallic structures, such as a sharp metal edge, V-shaped wedges, and tapered waveguides (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21). Tapering a metallic structure in all three dimensions, instead of only two, is considered ideal for ultimate light focusing (20,21).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-aligned deterministic coupling of single quantum emitter to nanofocused plasmonic modes

Gong

Kim

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The quantum plasmonics field has emerged and been growing increasingly, including study of single emitter-light coupling using plasmonic system and scalable quantum plasmonic circuit. This offers opportunity for the quantum control of light with compact device footprint. However, coupling of a single emitter to highly localized plasmonic mode with nanoscale precision remains an important challenge. Today, the spatial overlap between metallic structure and single emitter mostly relies either on chance or on advanced nanopositioning control. Here, we demonstrate deterministic coupling between three-dimensionally nanofocused plasmonic modes and single quantum dots (QDs) without any positioning for single QDs. By depositing a thin silver layer on a site-controlled pyramid QD wafer, three-dimensional plasmonic nanofocusing on each QD at the pyramid apex is geometrically achieved through the silver-coated pyramid facets. Enhancement of the QD spontaneous emission rate as high as 22 ± 16 is measured for all processed QDs emitting over ∼150-meV spectral range. This approach could apply to high fabrication yield onchip devices for wide application fields, e.g., high-efficiency light-emitting devices and quantum information processing.exciton-photon coupling | plasmonic nanofocusing | deterministic coupling | single-quantum emitter | Purcell effect S olid-state quantum photon sources based on semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are a promising platform to realize scalable quantum technology (1-7). However, owing to the extremely small size of QDs (a few tens of nanometers) compared with the wavelength of light (a few hundreds of nanometers), the QD interaction with the photon field is very poor. This poor interaction results in rather low intrinsic spontaneous emission (SE) rates (8, 9), limiting the optical properties of single QDs: low repetition rate, higher sensitivity to thermally activated nonradiative processes and to dephasing from solid-state environment, etc. To overcome these limitations, there have been extensive efforts during the past decade to achieve deterministic coupling of a QD to intense photonic modes for strong Purcell effect (10-13), which demands spectral and spatial overlap between them. Due to the uncertainty of the size and position of the QD, it is still quite challenging and requires sophisticated control techniques, such as scanning probe microscopy and nanoscale positioning system (12,14,15). Therefore, demonstration of deterministic coupling is limited to few devices because the process has to be customized for each QD on the wafer.Nanofocusing of surface plasmon polaritons, beyond the light diffraction limit, has recently seen rapid development. This nanofocusing can be achieved using various tapered metallic structures, such as a sharp metal edge, V-shaped wedges, and tapered waveguides (16-21). Tapering a metallic structure in all three dimensions, instead of only two, is considered ideal for ultimate light focusing (20, 21). The resulting extremely small mode volume can permit strong coupl...

show abstract

“…As an application of plasmonics in nanoimaging, metallic probes have been utilized to localize photons 14 , which, when combined with Raman scattering 15,16 , fluorescence 17 and infrared absorption 18 spectroscopies, can provide images of the distribution of molecules at a spatial resolution typically of the order of 10B20 nm. Recently, reproducibility in imaging has been greatly improved by optimizing the fabrication methods of probe tips 19,20 . The oxidization of silicon, which is the base material for silvercoated cantilevers, increases the Raman scattering enhancement 19 , and template stripping of gold pyramids makes mass production of probes possible 20 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, reproducibility in imaging has been greatly improved by optimizing the fabrication methods of probe tips 19,20 . The oxidization of silicon, which is the base material for silvercoated cantilevers, increases the Raman scattering enhancement 19 , and template stripping of gold pyramids makes mass production of probes possible 20 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tip-enhanced nano-Raman analytical imaging of locally induced strain distribution in carbon nanotubes

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tip-enhanced Raman scattering microscopy is a powerful technique for analysing nanomaterials at high spatial resolution far beyond the diffraction limit of light. However, imaging of intrinsic properties of materials such as individual molecules or local structures has not yet been achieved even with a tip-enhanced Raman scattering microscope. Here we demonstrate colour-coded tip-enhanced Raman scattering imaging of strain distribution along the length of a carbon nanotube. The strain is induced by dragging the nanotube with an atomic force microscope tip. A silver-coated nanotip is employed to enhance and detect Raman scattering from specific locations of the nanotube directly under the tip apex, representing deformation of its molecular alignment because of the existence of local strain. Our technique remarkably provides an insight into localized variations of structural properties in nanomaterials, which could prove useful for a variety of applications of carbon nanotubes and other nanomaterials as functional devices and materials.

show abstract

Highly Reproducible Near-Field Optical Imaging with Sub-20-nm Resolution Based on Template-Stripped Gold Pyramids

Cited by 135 publications

References 34 publications

Nanoscale Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging of an Optical Antenna with a Single Diamond NV Center

Nanoscale Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging of an Optical Antenna with a Single Diamond NV Center

Self-aligned deterministic coupling of single quantum emitter to nanofocused plasmonic modes

Tip-enhanced nano-Raman analytical imaging of locally induced strain distribution in carbon nanotubes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About