Fluorescent oxide nanoparticles adapted to active tips for near-field optics

TL;DR

This paper introduces fluorescent oxide nanoparticles produced by LECBD, suitable for active-tip near-field optics, demonstrating their stability and application in NSOM imaging.

Contribution

The study develops and validates a new method to produce and utilize stable fluorescent oxide nanoparticles as active tips for near-field optical microscopy.

Findings

Particles as small as 10 nm are highly photo-stable.

Particles can be coated onto standard tips for NSOM.

Successful near-field imaging with nanoparticle-coated tips.

Abstract

We present a new kind of fluorescent oxide nanoparticles with properties well suited to active-tip based near-field optics. These particles with an average diameter in the range 5-10 nm are produced by Low Energy Cluster Beam Deposition (LECBD) from a YAG:Ce3+ target. They are studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), classical photoluminescence, cathodoluminescence and near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). Particles of extreme photo-stability as small as 10 nm in size are observed. These emitters are validated as building blocks of active NSOM tips by coating a standard optical tip with a 10 nm thick layer of YAG:Ce3+ particles directly in the LECBD reactor and by subsequently performing NSOM imaging of test surfaces.