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S I Bozhevolnyi

Publications and source records attributed to S I Bozhevolnyi.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Near-field imaging of organic nanofibres.

The optical near-field of orientated nanofibres of para-hexaphenyl was investigated by a combination of localized far-field ultraviolet excitation and scanning near-field fluorescence detection. Morphological inhomogeneities of the nanofibres together with selective incoupling into the near-field probe resulted in a detection sensitivity was dependent on individual nanoaggregates. Strongest near-field intensity and radiation into the far-field were observed at the crossing points of nanofibres. The near-field observation of a distance-dependent damping of the waveguiding along the nanofibres allowed us to determine the imaginary part of the dielectric function of the nanofibres, in quantitative agreement with far-field optical data.

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PubMed2003

Surface plasmon polariton waveguiding in random surface nanostructures.

In this study, guiding of surface plasmon polaritons excited at a gold film surface along corrugation-free channels in regions that are covered with randomly located surface scatterers, is considered using near-field microscopy for imaging of surface plasmon polariton intensity distributions at the surface. In the wavelength range 713-815 nm, we observed complete inhibition of the surface plasmon polariton propagation inside the random structures composed of individual ( approximately 70 nm high) gold bumps (and their clusters) placed on a 55 nm thick gold film with a bump density of 75 micro m-2. We demonstrate well-defined surface plasmon polariton guiding along corrugation-free 2 micro m wide channels in random structures and, in the wavelength range 738-774 nm, low-loss guiding around 20 degrees bends having a bend radius of approximately 15 micro m.

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PubMed2003

Experimental studies of surface plasmon polariton band gap effect.

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagation at a gold film surface covered by periodic arrays of approximately 40-nm-high scatterers arranged in a triangular lattice of different periods containing straight line defects is studied using collection scanning near-field optical microscopy. The results reveal the dependence of the SPP band gap (SPPBG) effect manifested via the SPP reflection and guiding (along line defects) on the parameters of the surface structures (period, filling factor and lattice orientation). We find that the SPPBG effect is stronger along GammaK direction for all investigated periodic structures. Our results demonstrate that the SPPBG effect becomes less pronounced with a decrease of the filling factor and disappears for a filling factor close to 0.2. We also observe that the centre of the SPPBG shifts towards longer wavelengths with an increase of the lattice period.

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PubMed2001

Waveguiding in surface plasmon polariton band gap structures.

Using near-field optical microscopy, we investigate propagation and scattering of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP's) excited in the wavelength range of 780-820 nm at nanostructured gold-film surfaces with areas of 200-nm-wide scatterers arranged in a 400-nm-period triangular lattice containing line defects. We observe the SPP reflection by such an area and SPP guiding along line defects at 782 nm, as well as significant deterioration of these effects is 815 nm, thereby directly demonstrating the SPP band gap effect and showing first examples of SPP channel waveguides in surface band gap structures.

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PubMed2001

Near- and far-field second-harmonic imaging of quasi-phase-matching crystals.

Second-harmonic scanning near- and far-field optical microscopy of an electric-field poled KTiOPO4 quasi-phase-matching crystal has been accomplished. This has been done in order to reveal the walls that form the intersections between inverted and non-inverted crystal domains. The domain walls are seen clearly only in images recorded by means of second-harmonic generation because of a large nonlinear contrast, and they appear as bright stripes when studied in a reflection geometry but they are dark when studied in transmission. The images show that the duty cycle of the quasi-phase-matching crystal differs from the ideal and that the walls are not completely smooth. These effects, in combination with the observed scattering from the domain walls, are expected to lower the output of the crystal when used for frequency doubling. We conclude that the wall thickness is no more than approximately 100 nm, which makes it a suitable test object for the resolution capabilities of scanning near-field optical microscopes that are used for nonlinear imaging.

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PubMed2001

Near-field mapping of surface polariton fields.

Using the general approach to image formation in collection near-field optical microscopy, I derive the symmetry relations for the amplitude coupling coefficients in the case of a weakly guiding single-mode fibre terminated with a probe tip possessing axial symmetry. It is shown that, for the symmetrical detection configuration, six elements of the coupling matrix can be expressed by using only three independent coupling coefficients. The obtained relations are further applied to describe near-field mapping of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) fields. I demonstrate that, for the symmetrical detection configuration, the near-field optical image reflects the intensity distribution of the SPP field components parallel to the surface plane, even though the strong perpendicular component is also being detected. This conclusion is supported with numerical simulations that elucidate the influence of symmetry of the fibre probe on the resulting near-field optical image. The near-field optical images simulated for scattering systems typical for SPP microoptics and localization are presented. It is found that the presence of asymmetry in the detection configuration increases the contribution of the perpendicular field component and results in the images approaching the corresponding SPP intensity distributions.

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PubMed2001

Experimental statistics of near-field intensity distributions at nanostructured surfaces.

Scanning near-field optical microscopy is a technique in which the resolution is primarily determined by the size of a probe and not by the wavelength of illumination as in classical (far-field) microscopy. However, the relationship between a sample and its near-field optical image is usually rather complex. Typical factors responsible, at least partially, for such a complexity are the conditions of illumination and detection, sample characteristics (e.g. roughness and dielectric constant) and optical properties of the probe. Theoretical and experimental works conducted to improve our understanding of the relation between the object and the image have been reported (Greffet & Carminati, 1997). Recently, with the help of a photon scanning tunnelling microscope we have carried out an extensive study of the resultant near-field intensity distributions due to the elastic (in the plane) scattering of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) at metal film surfaces. We have also directly observed (in similar experimental conditions) localized dipolar excitations in silver colloid fractals (Bozhevolnyi et al., 1998). In both cases, the studied phenomena are intimately related to the regime of multiple light scattering, in which the interference effects are rather complicated and therefore a proper interpretation of them was far from being trivial. Thus, even though a certain understanding of many features inherent to the subwavelength light interference phenomena was gained (Bozhevolnyi & Coello, 1998; Bozhevolnyi et al., 1998; Coello & Bozhevolnyi, 1999), it is clear from the outcome of the investigations that more systematic studies in this context are still needed. A different and more powerful approach may be a statistical study of the recorded near-field intensity distributions. In this work, we report what we believe to be the first results on experimental statistics of near-field optical images exhibiting localized optical excitations (related to the regime of multiple scattering of light). We investigated optical images obtained with SPPs excited at different light wavelengths and scattered at different film surfaces, and with different polarizations and wavelengths of light scattered by silver colloid fractal structures. We have found significant differences in statistics between near-field intensity distributions taken at rough and smooth metal film surfaces and fractal structures. Finally, our predictions seem to be in agreement with theoretical studies reported by other authors (Sanchez-Gil & Garcia-Ramos, 1998).

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PubMedDate not supplied

Near-field optical microscopy of localized excitations on rough surfaces: influence of a probe.

Starting from the general principles of near-field optical microscopy. I consider the influence of a probe when being used to image localized dipolar excitations and suggest a way of evaluating the perturbation thus introduced. Using the rigorous microscopic (electric) point-dipole description, I calculate the self-consistent field intensity at the site of a probe dipole scanning over resonantly interacting object dipoles and show that the intensity distribution deviates from that existing in the absence of a probe. I demonstrate that this difference increases with an increase in the polarizability of the probe dipole. resulting eventually in a completely different intensity distribution. The calculations also show that the perturbation of the intensity distribution due to the presence of a probe decreases with an increase in the probe-sample distance. In order to evaluate the degree of perturbation. I suggest comparing the images obtained at different probe-sample distances. Finally, I formulate a simple rule of thumb that allows one to roughly estimate the probe-sample coupling when imaging localized excitations.

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PubMedDate not supplied

Polarization contrast in reflection near-field optical microscopy with uncoated fibre tips.

Using cross-hatched, patterned semiconductor surfaces and round 20-nm-thick gold pads on semiconductor wafers, we investigate the imaging characteristics of a reflection near-field optical microscope with an uncoated fibre tip for different polarization configurations and light wavelengths. It is shown that cross-polarized detection allows one to effectively suppress far-field components in the detected signal and to realize imaging of optical contrast on the subwavelength scale. The sensitivity window of our microscope, i.e. the scale on which near-field optical images represent mainly optical contrast, is found to be approximately 100 nm for light wavelengths in the visible region. We demonstrate imaging of near-field components of a dipole field and purely dielectric contrast (related to well-width fluctuations in a semiconductor quantum well) with a spatial resolution of approximately 100 nm. The results obtained show that such a near-field technique can be used for polarization-sensitive imaging with reasonably high spatial resolution and suggest a number of applications for this technique.

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PubMedDate not supplied

Optical characterization of probes for photon scanning tunnelling microscopy.

The photon scanning tunnelling microscope is a well-established member of the family of scanning near-field optical microscopes used for optical imaging at the subwavelength scale. The quality of the probes, typically pointed uncoated optical fibres, used is however, difficult to evaluate in a direct manner and has most often been inferred from the apparent quality of recorded optical images. Complicated near-field optical imaging characteristics, together with the possibility of topographically induced artefacts, however, has increased demands for a more reliable probe characterization technique. Here we present experimental results obtained for optical characterization of two different probes by imaging of a well-specified near-field intensity distribution at various spatial frequencies. In particular, we observe that a sharply pointed dielectric probe can be highly suitable for imaging when using p-polarized light for the illumination. We conclude that the proposed scheme can be used directly for probe characterization and, subsequently, for determination of an optical transfer function. which would allow one to deduce from an experimentally obtained image of a weakly scattering sample the field distribution existing near the sample surface in the absence of the probe.

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