title: Near-field photochemical imaging of noble metal nanostructures.
abstract: The sub-diffraction imaging of the optical near-field in nanostructures, based on a photochemical technique, is reported. A photosensitive azobenzene-dye polymer is spin coated onto lithographic structures and is subsequently irradiated with laser light. Photoinduced mass transport creates topographic modifications at the polymer film surface that are then measured with atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM images correlate with rigorous theoretical calculations of the near-field intensities for a range of different nanostructures and illumination polarizations. This approach is a first step toward additional methods for resolving confined optical near fields, which can augment scanning probe methodologies for high spatial resolution of optical near fields.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Nanotechnologie et d'Instrumentation Optique, CNRS FRE 2671, Université de Technologie de Troyes, 12 rue Marie-Curie, BP 2060, 10010 Troyes Cedex, France. christophe.hubert@utt.fr
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hubert
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rumyantseva
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lerondel
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grand
authors.forename: Sergeï
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kostcheev
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Billot
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vial
authors.forename: Renaud
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bachelot
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Royer
authors.forename: Shih-hui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Stephen K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: Gary P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Wiederrecht
authors.forename: George C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Schatz