title: Entangled nanoparticles: discovery by visualization in 4D electron microscopy.
abstract: Particle interactions are fundamental to our understanding of nanomaterials and biological assemblies. Here, we report on the visualization of entangled particles, separated by as large as 70 nm, and the discovery of channels in their near-fields. For silver nanoparticles, the induced field of each particle extends to 50-100 nm, but when particles are brought close in separation we observe channels as narrow as 6 nm, a width that is 2 orders of magnitude smaller than the incident field wavelength. The channels' directions can be controlled by the polarization of the incident field, particle size, and separation. For this direct visualization of these nanoscopic near-fields, the high spatial, temporal, and energy resolutions needed were hitherto not possible without the methodology given here. This methodology, we anticipate, paves the way for further fundamental studies of particle entanglement and for possible applications spanning materials and macromolecular assemblies.
authors.affiliation: Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology, Arthur Amos Noyes Laboratory of Chemical Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States.
authors.forename: Aycan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yurtsever
authors.forename: J Spencer
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Baskin
authors.forename: Ahmed H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Zewail
mesh_terms: D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron / Q000379:methods*; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010316:Particle Size; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: C009495:titanium dioxide; D012834:Silver; D014025:Titanium