Atomically terminated plasmonic tips effectively focus light on the Å scale, opening the atomistic limit in optical microscopy. Seeing an atom, a single chemical bond, imaging the vibrational normal modes inside one molecule, and seeing sound and imaging with atomically confined phonons are among the recent observations made in our laboratory, under the rubric of tip-enhanced Raman spectromicroscopy (TER-sm). I will use these examples to highlight the unusual properties of pico-plasmonics and develop optics in the atomistic near-field in terms of confined charge, field, light, and photon. There is much to be seen and manipulated on the Å-scale.
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