Fluorescent oxide nanoparticles adapted to active tips for near-field optics

Abstract

We present a new kind of fluorescent oxide nanoparticles with properties well suited to active-tip based near-field optics. These particles with an average diameter in the range 5-10 nm are produced by Low Energy Cluster Beam Deposition (LECBD) from a YAG:Ce3+ target. They are studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), classical photoluminescence, cathodoluminescence and near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). Particles of extreme photo-stability as small as 10 nm in size are observed. These emitters are validated as building blocks of active NSOM tips by coating a standard optical tip with a 10 nm thick layer of YAG:Ce3+ particles directly in the LECBD reactor and by subsequently performing NSOM imaging of test surfaces.

Changes made following Referee's comments; added references; one added figure. See story on this article at: http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/36063

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Cited by in corpus (6)

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• Near-field microscopy with a single-photon point-like emitter: Resolution versus the aperture tip?
• Quantum Theory of Near-field Optical Imaging with Rare-earth Atomic Clusters