4,057 research outputs found
Nanoantennas for visible and infrared radiation
Nanoantennas for visible and infrared radiation can strongly enhance the
interaction of light with nanoscale matter by their ability to efficiently link
propagating and spatially localized optical fields. This ability unlocks an
enormous potential for applications ranging from nanoscale optical microscopy
and spectroscopy over solar energy conversion, integrated optical
nanocircuitry, opto-electronics and density-ofstates engineering to
ultra-sensing as well as enhancement of optical nonlinearities. Here we review
the current understanding of optical antennas based on the background of both
well-developed radiowave antenna engineering and the emerging field of
plasmonics. In particular, we address the plasmonic behavior that emerges due
to the very high optical frequencies involved and the limitations in the choice
of antenna materials and geometrical parameters imposed by nanofabrication.
Finally, we give a brief account of the current status of the field and the
major established and emerging lines of investigation in this vivid area of
research.Comment: Review article with 76 pages, 21 figure
Bead Mediated Microscopy: from high resolution microscopy to nano-Raman
Solid-state physics, material science, as well as biology, need continuously more and more information from their samples. High spatial resolution information such as optical or electrical properties, chemical species identification as well as topography are important information that optical microscopy or Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) can provide. Although electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) certainly assumes a position of absolute importance in the field, its cost and its need to be used by highly specialised personnel still make it an instrument of limited everyday use. On the contrary, probe microscopy has now become of very high diffusion in research labs. To develop my thesis I focused myself on three main and somehow related microscopy techniques: high resolution Raman microscopy, Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (SNOM), and Tip Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS). All of them are state-of-the-art on surface optical analysis techniques but still present relevant limits; among others, respectively: spatial resolution, local power density, complexity and field of applicability. My approach wants to combine some aspects of these techniques to go beyond their limits.
Raman spectroscopy is a powerful optical technique, which measures the inelastic scattering of an incoming EM radiation due to the vibrational modes of the molecules present on the surface of a sample. Thanks to its high specificity, it is very powerful in identifying the chemical components of a sample. Several organic and inorganic molecules have their typical Raman spectral peaks, hence, by the Raman spectra, it\u2019s possible to provide a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the elements of a sample. High spatial resolution Raman setups uses the combination of a confocal microscope with a spectrometer assisted by a series of long pass and band pass filters. Despite its extreme versatility, basing Raman spectroscopy on a confocal system also constrains it to acquire its limit in spatial resolution determined by the limit of diffraction.
To overcome this limit the most used techniques in SPM are Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (SNOM) and Tip Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS).
Both of them exploits evanescent field, which is an electric field that is created by oscillating charges and/or currents and does not propagate in the far field as a classical electromagnetic wave, but is spatially concentrated very near to its source. This confinement allows to obtain field sources definitely smaller than in confocal systems.
In SNOM technique, the excitation light is focused through an aperture smaller than the wavelength, creating an evanescent field strongly localized near the aperture itself. Scanning the sample in this near range brings the spatial resolution down to the aperture dimension.
The main disadvantage of aperture SNOM is that the overall optical efficiency of probes is very low. The excitation power cannot be too high in order to prevent any damage of the probe, hence the energy that reaches the sample is usually not enough for Raman analysis.
TERS instead is more suitable for this purpose. It basically exploits Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) principles, using a laser irradiated gold sharp tip to obtain a local enhancement at its apex. Its good efficiency permits to analyze Raman effects with a spatial super-resolution, but, on the other hand, TERS probes usually lack of reprodubility and require very skilled and specialised users.
My PhD project has been focused to investigate and optimize an original approach to perform high resolution optical microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, well below the diffraction limit. The concept is to exploit the optical proprieties of a dielectric micro bead lens to achieve a powerful nanoscale near field confinement of light and the Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) technique to scan a sample to acquire optical maps. When a dielectric micro bead is hit by an Electromagnetic (EM) wave its effect is to transmit and concentrate the incident EM radiation in a specific area called nanojet, at first glance similar to that created with a standard lens. Some optical proprieties of the nanojets have been already introduced in the literature, but their application in the world of SPM, their employment in Raman microscopy and their combination with nanostructures to improve the spatial resolution are novel features whose investigation is promising. I gave to this technique the name of Beam Mediated Microscopy (BeMM).
The combination of super resolution bead mediated SPM with Raman spectroscopy opens interesting perspectives about powerful surface analysis for samples that need a versatile optical probe with a high spatial resolution and soft interaction with the sample, like soft matter substrates or biosamples
Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy using a single mode nanophotonic-plasmonic platform
Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) is a well-established technique
for enhancing Raman signals. Recently photonic integrated circuits have been
used, as an alternative to microscopy based excitation and collection, to probe
SERS signals from external metallic nanoparticles. However, in order to develop
quantitative on-chip SERS sensors, integration of dedicated nanoplasmonic
antennas and waveguides is desirable. Here we bridge this gap by demonstrating
for the first time the generation of SERS signals from integrated bowtie
nanoantennas, excited and collected by a single mode waveguide, and rigorously
quantify the enhancement process. The guided Raman power generated by a
4-Nitrothiophenol coated bowtie antenna shows an 8 x 10^6 enhancement compared
to the free-space Raman scattering. An excellent correspondence is obtained
between the theoretically predicted and observed absolute Raman power. This
work paves the way towards fully integrated lab-on-a-chip systems where the
single mode SERS-probe can be combined with other photonic, fluidic or
biological functionalities.Comment: Submitted to Nature Photonic
A Single Laser System for Ground-State Cooling of 25-Mg+
We present a single solid-state laser system to cool, coherently manipulate
and detect Mg ions. Coherent manipulation is accomplished by
coupling two hyperfine ground state levels using a pair of far-detuned Raman
laser beams. Resonant light for Doppler cooling and detection is derived from
the same laser source by means of an electro-optic modulator, generating a
sideband which is resonant with the atomic transition. We demonstrate
ground-state cooling of one of the vibrational modes of the ion in the trap
using resolved-sideband cooling. The cooling performance is studied and
discussed by observing the temporal evolution of Raman-stimulated sideband
transitions. The setup is a major simplification over existing state-of-the-art
systems, typically involving up to three separate laser sources
Plasmonic Antennas Hybridized with Dielectric Waveguides
For the purpose of using plasmonics in an integrated scheme where single
emitters can be probed efficiently, we experimentally and theoretically study
the scattering properties of single nano-rod gold antennas as well as antenna
arrays placed on one-dimensional dielectric silicon nitride waveguides. Using
real space and Fourier microscopy correlated with waveguide transmission
measurements, we quantify the spectral properties, absolute strength and
directivity of scattering. The scattering processes can be well understood in
the framework of the physics of dipolar objects placed on a planar layered
environment with a waveguiding layer. We use the single plasmonic structures on
top of the waveguide as dipolar building blocks for new types of antennas where
the waveguide enhances the coupling between antenna elements. We report on
waveguide hybridized Yagi-Uda antennas which show directionality in
out-coupling of guided modes as well as directionality for in-coupling into the
waveguide of localized excitations positioned at the feed element. These
measurements together with simulations demonstrate that this system is ideal as
a platform for plasmon quantum optics schemes as well as for fluorescence
lab-on-chip applications
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