Open Access
20 January 2023 Toward augmenting tip-enhanced nanoscopy with optically resolved scanning probe tips
Jeremy Belhassen, Simcha Glass, Eti Teblum, George A. Stanciu, Denis E. Tranca, Zeev Zalevsky, Stefan G. Stanciu, Avi Karsenty
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

A thorough understanding of biological species and emerging nanomaterials requires, among other efforts, their in-depth characterization through optical techniques capable of nanoresolution. Nanoscopy techniques based on tip-enhanced optical effects have gained tremendous interest over the past years, given their potential to obtain optical information with resolutions limited only by the size of a sharp probe interacting with focused light, irrespective of the illumination wavelength. Although their popularity and number of applications is rising, tip-enhanced nanoscopy (TEN) techniques still largely rely on probes that are not specifically developed for such applications, but for atomic force microscopy. This limits their potential in many regards, e.g., in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, attainable image quality, or extent of applications. We take the first steps toward next-generation TEN by demonstrating the fabrication and modeling of specialized TEN probes with known optical properties. The proposed framework is highly flexible and can be easily adjusted to be used with diverse TEN techniques, building on various concepts and phenomena, significantly augmenting their function. Probes with known optical properties could potentially enable faster and more accurate imaging via different routes, such as direct signal enhancement or facile and ultrafast optical signal modulation. We consider that the reported development can pave the way for a vast number of novel TEN imaging protocols and applications, given the many advantages that it offers.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE and CLP under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
Jeremy Belhassen, Simcha Glass, Eti Teblum, George A. Stanciu, Denis E. Tranca, Zeev Zalevsky, Stefan G. Stanciu, and Avi Karsenty "Toward augmenting tip-enhanced nanoscopy with optically resolved scanning probe tips," Advanced Photonics Nexus 2(2), 026002 (20 January 2023). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.APN.2.2.026002
Received: 14 October 2022; Accepted: 23 December 2022; Published: 20 January 2023
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CITATIONS
Cited by 6 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Absorption

Gold

Scattering

Optical properties

Plasmons

Super resolution microscopy

Atomic force microscopy

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