title: Surface plasmon near-field imaging of very thin microstructured polymer layers.
abstract: We report on the near-field imaging of microstructured polymer layers deposited on an homogeneous metal thin film on which a surface plasmon mode is excited. The microstructures in the polymer layers are designed by electron beam lithography, and the near-field imaging is performed with a photon scanning tunneling microscope (PSTM). We show that, despite their very small height, the microstructures can be conveniently imaged with a PSTM thanks to the field enhancement at the surface of the metal thin film supporting the surface plasmon. The influence of the illumination conditions on the contrast of the PSTM images is discussed. In particular, we show that both the field enhancement and the near-field intensity distribution around the microstructures depend dramatically upon the illumination conditions, leading to the conclusion that the PSTM is well suited for spatially resolved near-field surface plasmon sensing purposes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique, Université de Bourgogne, UMR-CNRS 5027, 9 Avenue Alain Savary, BP 47870, F-21078 Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Jean Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Weeber
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Finot
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Legay
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cathelat
authors.forename: Yvon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lacroute
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dereux