Aligned carbon nanotubes as polarization-sensitive, molecular near-field detectors.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 19196982.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.0812217106 and PMC identifier 2636739.
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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.