Biomedical subjects

Alexandre Bouhelier

Publications and source records attributed to Alexandre Bouhelier.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Longitudinal anisotropy of the photoinduced molecular migration in azobenzene polymer films.

The effects of tightly focused, higher-order laser beams on the photoinduced molecular migration and surface deformations in azobenzene polymer films are investigated. We demonstrate that the surface relief is principally triggered by longitudinal fields, i.e., electric fields polarized along the optical axis of the focused beam. Our findings can be explained by the translational diffusion of isomerized chromophores when the constraining effect of the polymer-air interface is considered.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Field-enhanced scanning near-field optical microscopy.

This manuscript reviews the principles and recent advances of scanning near-field optical microscopy based on tip-induced field enhancement. These scanning microscopes utilize minute probes to locally enhance an electromagnetic field through a complex interplay between surface plasmon excitation and localization of electric charges by geometrical singularities. The necessary conditions leading to an electromagnetic enhancement will be reviewed, as well as the means to characterize it. A brief account of the theoretical framework will be given, together with applications of the technique ranging from chemical imaging to nanolithography.

Ions↗

PubMed2005

Electromagnetic interactions in plasmonic nanoparticle arrays.

Single two-dimensional planar silver arrays and one-dimensional linear gold chains of nanoparticles were investigated by dark-field surface plasmon spectroscopy and studied as a function of interparticle distance, particle size, and number of particles. In agreement with recent theoretical predictions, a red shift of the surface plasmon resonance occurring in two-dimensional arrays was found for lattice spacings below 200 nm. This red shift is associated with a significant broadening of the resonance and is attributed to the onset of near-field interactions. We found that the relative contributions of the long-range and short-range interactions in two-dimensional arrays of particles are fundamentally different to those occurring in individual linear chains.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Tip-enhanced optical spectroscopy.

Spectroscopic methods with high spatial resolution are essential for understanding the physical and chemical properties of nanoscale materials including biological proteins, quantum structures and nanocomposite materials. In this paper, we describe microscopic techniques which rely on the enhanced electric field near a sharp, laser-irradiated metal tip. This confined light-source can be used for the excitation of various optical interactions such as two-photon excited fluorescence or Raman scattering. We study the properties of the enhanced fields and demonstrate fluorescence and Raman imaging with sub-20 nm resolution.

Lasers↗