title: Aligned carbon nanotubes as polarization-sensitive, molecular near-field detectors.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 9 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Ertugrul
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cubukcu
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Degirmenci
authors.forename: Coskun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kocabas
authors.forename: Mariano A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Zimmler
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Capasso