Aligned carbon nanotubes as polarization-sensitive, molecular near-field detectors.
Near-field scanning optical microscopes are widely used in imaging of subwavelength features in various material systems and nanostructures. For a variety of applications, polarization-sensitive near-field probes can provide valuable information on the nature and symmetry of the imaged nanoparticles and emitters. Conventional near-field optical microscopy lacks in-plane polarization sensitivity. Here, we use aligned single-wall carbon nanotubes as polarization-sensitive molecular scale probes to image the transverse near-field components of an optical Hertzian dipole antenna. Because of the Raman "antenna effect" in carbon nanotubes, only the near-field components along the nanotube axis are detected. These findings demonstrate that aligned carbon nanotubes can be used as polarization-sensitive near-field detectors.
Cubukcu
Ertugrul
E
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 9 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Degirmenci
Fatih
F
Kocabas
Coskun
C
Zimmler
Mariano A
MA
Rogers
John A
JA
Capasso
Federico
F