0000000000230063
AUTHOR
A. Naber
Site-selective luminescence study of defects. in gamma-irradiated glassy germanium dioxide
Abstract Luminescence of γ-irradiated samples of GeO2 glass was studied using dye laser excitation in the wavelength region between 590 and 656 nm. An inhomogeneously broadened luminescence band with a peak around 1.86 eV, halfwidth of 0.16 eV and decay constant τ ≈ 5.1 μs was found. At temperatures below 20 K a resonance ZPL and a vibronic peak 710 cm−1 below the laser photon energy emerge when laser is tuned to energies between 1.95–1.89 eV. The site-selective luminescence spectra are qualitatively similar to those of the non-bridging oxygen hole center (NBOHC) in SiO2 glass and are attributed to NBOHC in glassy GeO2. The measured ratio between the energies of the observed local vibration…
Enhanced light confinement in a triangular aperture: Experimental evidence and numerical calculations
We have recently demonstrated that the electric near-field emerging from a triangular aperture at the tip of a metal-coated tetrahedron of glass exhibits a highly confined and intense spot when the light incident from within the glass body is polarized perpendicularly to one edge of the aperture [Naber et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 210801 (2002)]. Here we present additional experimental material and a theoretical confirmation of this near-field optical effect. Based on the model of a triangular aperture in a planar metal film, we studied the influence of aperture size and film material on the field distribution. Even though our theoretical model is rather simplified as compared to the experi…
On the optimum form of an aperture for a confinement of the optically excited electric near field.
Summary A triangular nanoaperture in an aluminium film was used previously as a probe in a scanning near-field optical microscope to image single fluorescent molecules with an optical resolution down to 30 nm. The high-resolution capability of the triangular aperture probe is because of a highly confined spot of the electric near field which emerges at an edge of the aperture, when the incident light is polarized perpendicular to this edge. Previous numerical calculations of the near-field distribution of a triangular aperture in a planar metal film using the field susceptibility technique yielded a nearly quantitative agreement with the experimental results. Using the same numerical techni…
Single molecule imaging using a highly confined optical field at a triangular aperture
We demonstrate that scanning near-field optical microscopy based on a probe with a triangular aperture is capable of imaging single fluorescent molecules with an optical resolution of 30 nm. Numerical simulations agree well with experiment.
3D Metamaterials with Negative Thermal Expansion and Negative Effective Compressibility
Materials with negative thermal expansion are desired for controlling thermal stresses, but unusual in nature. With two-component metamaterials it is possible to tune the thermal expansion from positive over zero to negative values, even if both components have positive thermal expansion. Using gray-tone laser lithography we fabricate three-dimensional two-component polymer microlattices, exhibiting zero or negative thermal expansion [1].
Imaging of photonic nanopatterns by scanning near-field optical microscopy
We define photonic nanopatterns of a sample as images recorded by scanning near-field optical microscopy with a locally excited electric dipole as a probe. This photonic nanopattern can be calculated by use of the Green’s dyadic technique. Here, we show that scanning near-field optical microscopy images of well-defined gold triangles taken with the tetrahedral tip as a probe show a close similarity to the photonic nanopattern of this nanostructure with an electric dipole at a distance of 15 nm to the sample and tilted 45° with respect to the scanning plane.
High-resolution mapping of the optical near-field components at a triangular nano-aperture.
A triangular nano-aperture in an aluminum film was used as a probe in a scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) to image single fluorescent molecules with an optical resolution down to 30 nm. The differently oriented molecules were employed as point detectors to map the vectorial components of the electric field distribution at the illuminated triangular aperture. The good agreement of the experimental results with numerical simulations enabled us to determine both the field map at a triangular aperture and the exact orientations of the probing molecules.