G. Volpe
M. Noack
S. S. Acimovic
C. Reinhardt
R. Quidant

Near-field mapping of plasmonic antennas by multiphoton absorption in (poly methyl methacrylate)

Nano letters
9
12
4864-4868
2012
Type: Zeitschriftenaufsatz (reviewed)
Abstract
Mapping the optical near-field response around nanoantennas is a challenging yet indispensable task to engineer light-matter interaction at the nanometer scale. Recently, photosensitive molecular probes, which undergo morphological or chemical changes induced by the local optical response of the nanostructures, have been proposed as a handy alternative to more cumbersome optical and electron-based techniques. Here, we report four-photon absorption in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as a very promising tool for nanoimaging the optical near-field around nanostructures over a broad range of near-infrared optical wavelengths. The high performance of our approach is demonstrated on single-rod antennas and coupled gap antennas by comparing experimental maps with 3D numerical simulations of the electric near-field intensity.