3,010 research outputs found
Variable - temperature scanning optical and force microscope
The implementation of a scanning microscope capable of working in confocal,
atomic force and apertureless near field configurations is presented. The
microscope is designed to operate in the temperature range 4 - 300 K, using
conventional helium flow cryostats. In AFM mode, the distance between the
sample and an etched tungsten tip is controlled by a self - sensing
piezoelectric tuning fork. The vertical position of both the AFM head and
microscope objective can be accurately controlled using piezoelectric coarse
approach motors. The scanning is performed using a compact XYZ stage, while the
AFM and optical head are kept fixed, allowing scanning probe and optical
measurements to be acquired simultaneously and in concert. The free optical
axis of the microscope enables both reflection and transmission experiments to
be performed.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, submitted to the journal "Review of Scientific
Instruments
Enhanced Transmission and Reflection of Femtosecond Pulses by a Single Slit
We show that a physical mechanism responsible for the enhanced transmission
and reflection of femtosecond pulses by a single subwavelength nanoslit in a
thick metallic film is the Fabry-Perot-like resonant excitation of stationary,
quasistationary and nonstationary waves inside the slit, which leads to the
field enhancement inside and around the slit. The mechanism is universal for
any pulse-scatter system, which supports the stationary resonances. We point
out that there is a pulse duration limit below which the slit does not support
the intraslit resonance.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
The optimal form of the scanning near-field optical microscopy probe
A theoretical approach to determine the optimal form of the near-field
optical microscope probe is proposed. An analytical expression of the optimal
probe form with subwavelength aperture has been obtained. The advantages of the
probe with the optimal form are illustrated using numerical calculations. The
conducted calculations show 10 times greater light throughput and the reception
possibility of the more compactly localized light at the output probe aperture
which could indicate better spatial resolution of the optical images in
near-field optical technique using optimal probe.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure
Near-field diffraction of fs and sub-fs pulses: super-resolutions of NSOM in space and time
The near-field diffraction of fs and sub-fs light pulses by nm-size slit-type
apertures and its implication for near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM)
is analyzed. The amplitude distributions of the diffracted wave-packets having
the central wavelengths in the visible spectral region are found by using the
Neerhoff and Mur coupled integral equations, which are solved numerically for
each Fourier's component of the wave-packet. In the case of fs pulses, the
duration and transverse dimensions of the diffracted pulse remain practically
the same as that of the input pulse. This demonstrates feasibility of the NSOM
in which a fs pulse is used to provide the fs temporal resolution together with
nm-scale spatial resolution. In the sub-fs domain, the Fourier spectrum of the
transmitted pulse experiences a considerable narrowing that leads to the
increase of the pulse duration in a few times. This imposes a limit on the
simultaneous resolutions in time and space.Comment: 5 figure
Reflectionless evanescent-wave amplification by two dielectric planar waveguides
Utilizing the underlying physics of evanescent wave amplification by a
negative-refractive-index slab, it is shown that evanescent waves with specific
spatial frequencies can also be amplified without any reflection simply by two
dielectric planar waveguides. The simple configuration allows one to take
advantage of the high resolution limit of a high-refractive-index material
without contact with the object.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, v2: accepted by Optics Letters, v3: included the
Erratum submitted to Optics Letter
Extension of Bethe's diffraction model to conical Geometry: application to near field optics
The generality of the Bethe's two dipole model for light diffraction through
a subwavelength aperture in a conducting plane is studied in the radiation zone
for coated conical fiber tips as those used in near field scanning optical
microscopy. In order to describe the angular radiated power of the tip
theoretically, we present a simple, analytical model for small apertures
(radius < 40 nm) based on a multipole expansion. Our model is able to reproduce
the available experimental results. It proves relatively insensitive to cone
angle and aperture radius and contains, as a first approximation, the empirical
two-dipole model proposed earlier
A compact fluorescence and polarization near-field scanning optical microscope
We present a transmission, fluorescence, and polarization near-field scanning optical microscope with shear-force feedback control that is small in size and simple to operate. This microscope features an ultrafine mechanical tip/sample approach with continuous manual submicron control over a range of several millimeters. The piezo-driven 12 μm x-yx-y scan range is complimented by a 4 mm coarse mechanical translation range in each direction. The construction materials used in the mechanical feedback loop have been carefully chosen for thermal compatibility in order to reduce differential expansion and contraction between the tip and sample. A unique pressure-fit sample mount allows for quick and reliable sample exchange. Shear-force feedback light is delivered to the scan head via an optical fiber so that a remote laser of any type may be used as a source. This dither light is collimated and refocused onto the tip, delivering a consistently small spot which is collected by a high numerical aperture objective. This new scan head incorporates an optical system which will permit the linearization of scan piezo response similar to a scheme used successfully with atomic force microscopy. This is designed to both overcome the piezo’s inherent hysteresis and to eliminate drift during long duration spatial scans or spectroscopic measurements at a single location. The scan head design offers added flexibility due to the use of optical fibers to deliver the dither and scan linearization light, and functions in any orientation for use in conjunction with upright or inverted optical microscopes. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70291/2/RSINAK-69-7-2685-1.pd
Sparsity based sub-wavelength imaging with partially incoherent light via quadratic compressed sensing
We demonstrate that sub-wavelength optical images borne on
partially-spatially-incoherent light can be recovered, from their far-field or
from the blurred image, given the prior knowledge that the image is sparse, and
only that. The reconstruction method relies on the recently demonstrated
sparsity-based sub-wavelength imaging. However, for
partially-spatially-incoherent light, the relation between the measurements and
the image is quadratic, yielding non-convex measurement equations that do not
conform to previously used techniques. Consequently, we demonstrate new
algorithmic methodology, referred to as quadratic compressed sensing, which can
be applied to a range of other problems involving information recovery from
partial correlation measurements, including when the correlation function has
local dependencies. Specifically for microscopy, this method can be readily
extended to white light microscopes with the additional knowledge of the light
source spectrum.Comment: 16 page
Enhanced transmission versus localization of a light pulse by a subwavelength metal slit: Can the pulse have both characteristics?
The existence of resonant enhanced transmission and collimation of light
waves by subwavelength slits in metal films [for example, see T.W. Ebbesen et
al., Nature (London) 391, 667 (1998) and H.J. Lezec et al., Science, 297, 820
(2002)] leads to the basic question: Can a light be enhanced and simultaneously
localized in space and time by a subwavelength slit? To address this question,
the spatial distribution of the energy flux of an ultrashort (femtosecond)
wave-packet diffracted by a subwavelength (nanometer-size) slit was analyzed by
using the conventional approach based on the Neerhoff and Mur solution of
Maxwell's equations. The results show that a light can be enhanced by orders of
magnitude and simultaneously localized in the near-field diffraction zone at
the nm- and fs-scales. Possible applications in nanophotonics are discussed.Comment: 5 figure
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