Super-Resolution Imaging and Plasmonics

Abstract

This review describes the growing partnership between super-resolution imaging and plasmonics, by describing the various ways in which the two topics mutually benefit one another to enhance our understanding of the nanoscale world. First, localization-based super-resolution imaging strategies, where molecules are modulated between emissive and nonemissive states and their emission localized, are applied to plasmonic nanoparticle substrates, revealing the hidden shape of the nanoparticles while also mapping local electromagnetic field enhancements and reactivity patterns on their surface. However, these results must be interpreted carefully due to localization errors induced by the interaction between metallic substrates and single fluorophores. Second, plasmonic nanoparticles are explored as image contrast agents for both superlocalization and super-resolution imaging, offering benefits such as high photostability, large signal-to-noise, and distance-dependent spectral features but presenting challenges for localizing individual nanoparticles within a diffraction-limited spot. Finally, the use of plasmon-tailored excitation fields to achieve subdiffraction-limited spatial resolution is discussed, using localized surface plasmons and surface plasmon polaritons to create confined excitation volumes or image magnification to enhance spatial resolution.

Finite-size effects on periodic arrays of nanostructures

“…Metallic nanoparticles capable of supporting surface plasmon modes have proven to be ideal tools for manipulating light due to their strong optical responses and subwavelength field confinement [1]. These exceptional properties are being exploited in a wide variety of applications, including ultrasensitive biosensing [2,3], solar energy harvesting [4,5], photocatalysis [6,7], nanoscale light emission [8][9][10][11][12], imaging [13,14], and nonlinear optics [15][16][17], to cite a few. Metallic nanostructures are also used as building blocks for metasurfaces [18], which are ultrathin structures that enable the manipulation of the wavefront of light beams on a subwavelength scale [19].…”

Monitoring Simultaneous Electrochemical Reactions with Single Particle Imaging

“…Silver nanoparticles (NPs) have a wide range of applications, such as catalyzing the photodecomposition of environmental contaminants, [1] selectively oxidizing organic species such as benzene and carbon monoxide, [2,3] serving as substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), [4] acting as plasmonic photo-catalysts through the generation of hot charge carriers, [5,6] and providing antimicrobial activity. [7] However, a major issue with Ag NPs is the formation of an oxide/hydroxide layer on their surface that results in reduced efficiency in all of the above-mentioned applications.…”

Phonon Polaritons and Hyperbolic Response in van der Waals Materials

“…The field compression of SPPs can offer a high energy density with a giant local heating effect and has been explored for applications such as plasmonic therapy and solar vapor generation . In addition, SPPs with advanced nanophotonic merits facilitates applications in light beam steering, super‐resolution imaging, high quality microcavities, among many others.…”