Immersion lens microscopy of photonic nanostructures and quantum dots

Goldberg, Bennett B.; Ippolito, S.B.; Novotny, Lukas; Liu, Zhiheng; Ünlü, M. Selim

doi:10.1109/jstqe.2002.804232

Cited by 21 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…28,29 To investigate the spot size and the polarization properties, we propose also "zero-dimensional" nanostructures ͓e.g., InAs self-assembled quantum dots ͑SAD's͔ as an appealing tool. 30 These structures are much smaller than the wavelength of light and therefore allow for a high spatial resolution. To distinguish between longitudinal and transverse fields, the strong heavy and light hole splitting in SAD's ͑Refs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using a quantum well heterostructure to study the longitudinal and transverse electric field components of a strongly focused laser beam

Rurimo

Schardt

Quabis

et al. 2006

Journal of Applied Physics

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We report a method to measure the electric energy density of longitudinal and transverse electric field components of strongly focused polarized laser beams. We used a quantum well photodetector and exploited the polarization dependent optical transitions of light holes and heavy holes to probe the electric field distribution in the focal region. A comparison of the measured photocurrent spectra for radially and azimuthally polarized beams at the light and heavy hole absorption peaks provides a measure of the amount of the longitudinal electric field component.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using a quantum well heterostructure to study the longitudinal and transverse electric field components of a strongly focused laser beam

Rurimo

Schardt

Quabis

et al. 2006

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…They can be used as apertureless optical nanoprobes for scanning near-field optical microscopy with high spatial resolution down to 15 nm at high electrical field intensities [15]. A tipenhanced SIL (TESIL) combines a SIL with a nano metal particle for local field enhancement [16].…”

Section: The Near-field Accessed With Solid Immersion Lens Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A SIL probe producing a spot size of about 100 nm transmits about half (50%) of the optical power [25,28,38]. By comparison, a metal-coated fiber-probe with a 100 nm aperture transmits only a tiny fraction (10 -3 -10 -6 ) of the light coupled into the fiber [16,[39][40][41]. The high S/N ratio is a prerequisite for performing near-field optical spectroscopy.…”

Section: The Near-field Accessed With Solid Immersion Lens Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Extension of solid immersion lens technology to super-resolution Raman microscopy

Ostertag¹,

Lorenz²,

Rebner³

et al. 2014

Nanospectroscopy

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The near-field accessed with solid immersion lens technologyThe main reason for using solid immersion lenses is their capability to enhance the spatial resolution. Solids have higher refractive indices than air. When used as the immersion medium, light travels more slowly and the wavelength is shorter in the optically denser medium which results in an improvement in resolution. Mansfield and Kino were the first to recommend the SIL for increasing the spatial resolution of the optical microscope [1]. A SIL is a spherical lens (diameter 2r, refractive index n SIL ) which is polished to a thickness of r (hemisphere type) or (1+1/n SIL )r (supersphere or Weierstrass type) [2,3]. The sphere diameter is usually in the range of single millimeters down to micrometers. The numerical aperture (NA) of the complete system is improved by factor of n SIL (hemisphere type) or (n SIL ) 2 (Weierstrass type) -subject to the condition that the refractive index of the substrate is at least as high as the refractive index of the SIL. If this condition is not met, the refractive index of the substrate limits the effective numerical aperture NA eff of the SIL/ objective optical system (with NA eff = n SIL sinα m , where α m is the marginal ray angle inside the SIL) [4]. The angular range of collected information is determined by the SIL probe, the objective lens, and the detector [5].The SIL technique is also known as "numerical aperture increasing lens (NAIL) microscopy" [6]. For the NAIL technique the inclusion of evanescent waves is crucial for resolution gain [7]. Tom Milster et al. have described the role of propagating and evanescent waves in solid immersion lens systems [8].It must be emphasized here that the lateral resolution of a SIL microscope can exceed the "NAIL Limit", i.e. by the factor of the refractive index n SIL . In order to achieve this, the evanescent component of the light from the substrate has to be identified amongst the predominant propagated component. One approach is to tailor the angular spectrum by annular illumination and collection which can significantly improve the resolution and emphasize Abstract: Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy (SNOM) has developed during recent decades into a valuable tool to optically image the surface topology of materials with super-resolution. With aperture-based SNOM systems, the resolution scales with the size of the aperture, but also limits the sensitivity of the detection and thus the application for spectroscopic techniques like Raman SNOM. In this paper we report the extension of solid immersion lens (SIL) technology to Raman SNOM. The hemispherical SIL with a tip on the bottom acts as an apertureless dielectric nanoprobe for simultaneously acquiring topographic and spectroscopic information. The SIL is placed between the sample and the microscope objective of a confocal Raman microscope. The lateral resolution in the Raman mode is validated with a cross section of a semiconductor layer system and, at approximately 180 nm, is beyond the classical diffraction lim...

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“…SIL methods are well suited to the imaging, characterization and even the fabrication of many photonic nanostructure devices [14][15][16][17] since it is not possible to obtain any suitable immersion oils that have refractive indices approaching those of common semiconductors, nor is it possible to physically immerse the objective lens into solid samples.…”

Section: The Solid Immersion Lensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solid immersion lens applications for nanophotonic devices

Ramsay¹

2008

J. Nanophoton

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Abstract. Solid immersion lens (SIL) microscopy combines the advantages of conventional microscopy with those of near-field techniques, and is being increasingly adopted across a diverse range of technologies and applications. A comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in this rapidly expanding subject is therefore increasingly relevant. Important benefits are enabled by SIL-focusing, including an improved lateral and axial spatial profiling resolution when a SIL is used in laser-scanning microscopy or excitation, and an improved collection efficiency when a SIL is used in a light-collection mode, for example in fluorescence micro-spectroscopy. These advantages arise from the increase in numerical aperture (NA) that is provided by a SIL. Other SIL-enhanced improvements, for example spherical-aberration-free sub-surface imaging, are a fundamental consequence of the aplanatic imaging condition that results from the spherical geometry of the SIL. The theory of SIL imaging exposes the unique properties of SILs that provide advantages in applications involving the interrogation of photonic and electronic nanostructures. Such applications range from the sub-surface examination of the complex three-dimensional microstructures fabricated in silicon integrated circuits, to quantum photoluminescence and transmission measurements in semiconductor quantum dot nanostructures.

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Immersion lens microscopy of photonic nanostructures and quantum dots

Cited by 21 publications

References 51 publications

Using a quantum well heterostructure to study the longitudinal and transverse electric field components of a strongly focused laser beam

Using a quantum well heterostructure to study the longitudinal and transverse electric field components of a strongly focused laser beam

Extension of solid immersion lens technology to super-resolution Raman microscopy

Solid immersion lens applications for nanophotonic devices

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