title: Unique laser-scanning optical microscope for low-temperature imaging and spectroscopy.
abstract: Low-temperature optical characterization of single quantum nanostructures can reveal detailed information on structure-dependent properties of these materials. We describe the development of a unique laser-scanning optical microscope capable of low-temperature single molecule/particle imaging and spectroscopy. Making use of the magnification of a microscope objective, the laser- scanning scheme of the present microscope allows for high-repeatability imaging over large sample areas. The microscope is utilized to measure the low-temperature Raman scattering spectra of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes and single molecule fluorescence spectra of conjugated polymers. The developed low-temperature microscope can be applied to study a wide array of nanomaterials at a single particle level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Saliha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aite
authors.forename: Zhonghua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D003080:Cold Temperature; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods