Toward subdiffraction transmission microscopy of diffuse materials with silver nanoparticle white-light beacons.
We demonstrate high resolution transmission microscopy in a conventional two-photon wide-field fluorescence microscope by exploiting nonlinear white light generation from clusters of silver nanoparticles placed beneath the specimen. Surface-enhanced two-photon luminescence occurs at nanoparticle hot spots in the form of spectrally broad, spatially confined light which can be exploited to determine the transmission properties of a sample placed on the silver nanoparticles. We demonstrate the versatility of the technique by revealing individual crystalline domains formed in the diffuse biological photonic crystals of the scales of a beetle. We can identify submicron changes between photonic crystal facets as well as the occurrence of stacked domains invisible to surface-sensitive methods. Control over wavelength, polarization, and pulse shape promises selective addressing of hot spots in nanoparticle assemblies for motionless spatial scanning of the transmission properties with subdiffraction resolution.
Chaudhuri
Debansu
D
Department of Physics and Department of Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA.
Galusha
Jeremy W
JW
Walter
Manfred J
MJ
Borys
Nicholas J
NJ
Bartl
Michael H
MH
Lupton
John M
JM
D000818:Animals; D003460:Crystallization; D004058:Diffusion; D008027:Light; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission / Q000379:methods; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods; D017785:Photons; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D048889:Weevils
D012834:Silver