0000000000134126

AUTHOR

Pierre-michel Adam

Determination of the spatial extension of the surface-plasmon evanescent field of a silver film with a photon scanning tunneling microscope.

A photon scanning tunneling microscope is employed to probe the surface-plasmon field in the evanes- cent region of a silver film for p (parallel to the plane of incidence) and s (perpendicular to the plane of incidence) polarizations of the light beam at several angles of incidence near the critical angle. The in- teraction between the field and the probe is measured and compared to theoretical calculations involving a single four-media model. A systematic analysis of images obtained for several positions of the optical fiber above the film is presented and it is shown that, for tip-to-sample distances smaller than half the wavelength of the incoming light, the collected intensity curves a…

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Optical determination and identification of organic shells around nanoparticles: application to silver nanoparticles

We present a simple method to prove the presence of an organic shell around silver nanoparticles. This method is based on the comparison between optical extinction measurements of isolated nanoparticles and Mie calculations predicting the expected wavelength of the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance of the nanoparticles with and without the presence of an organic layer. This method was applied to silver nanoparticles which seemed to be well protected from oxidation. Further experimental characterization via Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) measurements allowed to identify this protective shell as ethylene glycol. Combining LSPR and SERS measurements could thus give proof of both …

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Error signal artifact in apertureless scanning near-fiel microcospy

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Resolution of the photon scanning tunneling microscope: influence of physical parameters

Abstract The photon scanning tunneling microscope (PSTM) is the photon analogue of the electron scanning tunneling microscope (ESTM). It uses the evanescent field due to total internal reflection (TIR) of a light beam in a prism modulated by a sample placed on the base of the prism. Our experimental results shown details which present a lateral size as small as 200 A. The PSTM axial resolution is more difficult to evaluate. It is a function of the roughness of the sample. For very smooth samples, images shown an axial resolution of about 10 A. At last we discuss how both lateral and axial resolution can be affected by several parameters such as the tip surface distance and the roughness of …

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Imaging of test quartz gratings with a photon scanning tunneling microscope Experiment and theory

We use the differential formalism of the electromagnetic theory of gratings to interpret the images of test sinusoidal or lamellar quartz gratings obtained with a photon scanning tunneling microscope. The period of the grating is 0.5 μm, and the height of the rule is 0.2 μm. It is shown that the images depend strongly on several parameters, such as polarization or angle of incidence, with respect to the ruling direction. A systematic study of the isointensity lines above the gratings as a function of polarization is presented, and it is shown that the image contrast can be increased or decreased depending on the sample–probe distance. To model the interaction of the fiber probe with the ele…

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Two-color nanoemiter

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Reversible Strong Coupling in Silver Nanoparticle Arrays Using Photochromic Molecules

International audience; In this Letter, we demonstrate a reversible strong coupling regime between a dipolar surface plasmon resonance and a molecular excited state. This reversible state is experimentally observed on silver nanoparticle arrays embedded in a polymer film containing photochromic molecules. Extinction measurements reveal a clear Rabi splitting of 294 meV, corresponding to ∼13% of the molecular transition energy. We derived an analytical model to confirm our observations, and we emphasize the importance of spectrally matching the polymer absorption with the plasmonic resonance to observe coupled states. Finally, the reversibility of this coupling is illustrated by cycling the …

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Computation of near field diffraction by a dielectric grating: a comparison with experiments

We use an eigenmode method to compute the near field diffracted by one-dimensional dielectric gratings. We present a set of easily programmable recurrence relations that give the diffracted field from the incident one. The numerical results are compared with the experimental images obtained with the Photon Scanning Tunneling Microscope (PSTM).

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Recent Experimental Results with the PSTM: - Observation of a Step on a Quartz Surface. - Spatial Spectroscopy of Microwaveguides

The Photon Scanning Tunneling Microscope (PSTM) is based on the frustration of the total internal reflected beam by the end of an optical fiber. Till today it has been used to obtain topographic information generally for smooth samples. In this paper we report two different kinds of experimental results. First, when the sample is in the form of a step, our measurements demonstrate how the images, obtained in the constant intensity mode, depend on the orientation of the incident beam of light with respect to the step. Next, we show that the first derivative of the collected intensity with respect to the probe-sample distance at each point of the sample yields to a new kind of image named her…

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Analysis of image formation with a photon scanning tunneling microscope

International audience; The photon scanning tunneling microscope (PSTM) is based on the frustration of a total internal reflected beam by the end of an optical fiber. Until now it has been used to obtain topographic information, generally for smooth samples. We report theoretical as well as experimental results on the observation of a step on a quartz substrate with the PSTM. These results demonstrate the effects on image formation of the distance between the fiber tip and the sample surface, the orientation of the incident beam with respect to the step, the polarization, and the coherence of the light. Good agreement exists between numerical simulations and experiments. We show that a pert…

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