Fluorescence from a single-molecule probe directly attached to a plasmonic STM tip.

The scanning tunneling microscope (STM) provides access to atomic-scale properties of a conductive sample. While single-molecule tip functionalization has become a standard procedure, fluorescent molecular probes remained absent from the available tool set. Here, the plasmonic tip of an STM is functionalized with a single fluorescent molecule and is scanned on a plasmonic substrate.

Many-Body Description of STM-Induced Fluorescence of Charged Molecules.

A scanning tunneling microscope is used to study the fluorescence of a model charged molecule (quinacridone) adsorbed on a sodium chloride (NaCl)-covered metallic sample. Fluorescence from the neutral and positively charged species is reported and imaged using hyperresolved fluorescence microscopy. A many-body model is established based on a detailed analysis of voltage, current, and spatial dependences of the fluorescence and electron transport features.

Tip-Induced and Electrical Control of the Photoluminescence Yield of Monolayer WS.

The photoluminescence (PL) of monolayer tungsten disulfide (WS) is locally and electrically controlled using the nonplasmonic tip and tunneling current of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The spatial and spectral distribution of the emitted light is determined using an optical microscope. When the STM tip is engaged, short-range PL quenching due to near-field electromagnetic effects is present, independent of the sign and value of the bias voltage applied to the tip-sample tunneling junction.

An electrically induced probe of the modes of a plasmonic multilayer stack.

A new single-image acquisition technique for the determination of the dispersion relation of the propagating modes of a plasmonic multilayer stack is introduced. This technique is based on an electrically-driven, spectrally broad excitation source which is nanoscale in size: the inelastic electron tunnel current between the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and the sample. The resulting light from the excited modes of the system is collected in transmission using a microscope objective.

Scanning Tunneling Microscope-Induced Excitonic Luminescence of a Two-Dimensional Semiconductor.

The long sought-after goal of locally and spectroscopically probing the excitons of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors is attained using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Excitonic luminescence from monolayer molybdenum diselenide (MoSe_{2}) on a transparent conducting substrate is electrically excited in the tunnel junction of an STM under ambient conditions. By comparing the results with photoluminescence measurements, the emission mechanism is identified as the radiative recombination of bright A excitons.

Directional light beams by design from electrically driven elliptical slit antennas.

We report on the low-energy, electrical generation of light beams in specific directions from planar elliptical microstructures. The emission direction of the beam is determined by the microstructure eccentricity. A very simple, broadband, optical antenna design is used, which consists of a single elliptical slit etched into a gold film.

Surface plasmon polariton beams from an electrically excited plasmonic crystal.

Surface plasmon polariton (SPP) beams with an in-plane angular spread of 8° are produced by electrically exciting a 2D plasmonic crystal using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The plasmonic crystal consists of a gold nanoparticle (NP) array on a thin gold film on a glass substrate and it is the inelastic tunnel electrons (IET) from the STM that provide a localized and spectrally broadband SPP source. Surface waves on the gold film are shown to be essential for the coupling of the local, electrical excitation to the extended NP array, thus leading to the creation of SPP beams.

Temporal coherence of propagating surface plasmons.

The temporal coherence of propagating surface plasmons is investigated using a local, broadband plasmon source consisting of a scanning tunneling microscope. A variant of Young's experiment is performed using a sample consisting of a 200-nm-thick gold film perforated by two 1-μm-diameter holes (separated by 4 or 6 μm). The resulting interference fringes are studied as a function of hole separation and source bandwidth.

An electrically excited nanoscale light source with active angular control of the emitted light.

We report on the angular distribution, polarization, and spectrum of the light emitted from an electrically controlled nanoscale light source. This nanosource of light arises from the local, low-energy, electrical excitation of localized surface plasmons (LSP) on individual gold nanoparticles using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The gold nanoparticles (NP) are chemically synthesized truncated bitetrahedrons.

Edge scattering of surface plasmons excited by scanning tunneling microscopy.

The scattering of electrically excited surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) into photons at the edges of gold metal stripes is investigated. The SPPs are locally generated by the inelastic tunneling current of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The majority of the collected light arising from the scattering of SPPs at the stripe edges is emitted in the forward direction and is collected at large angle (close to the air-glass critical angle, θ(c)).

Two-photon fluorescence isotropic-single-objective microscopy.

Two-photon excitation provides efficient optical sectioning in three-dimensional fluorescence microscopy, independently of a confocal detection. In two-photon laser-scanning microscopy, the image resolution is governed by the volume of the excitation light spot, which is obtained by focusing the incident laser beam through the objective lens of the microscope. The light spot being strongly elongated along the optical axis, the axial resolution is much lower than the transverse one.

Isotropic single-objective microscopy: theory and experiment.

Isotropic single-objective (ISO) microscopy is a recently proposed imaging technique that can theoretically exhibit the same axial and transverse resolutions as 4Pi microscopy while using a classical single-objective confocal microscope. This achievement is obtained by placing the sample on a mirror and shaping the illumination beam so that the interference of the incident and mirror-reflected fields yields a quasi-spherical spot. In this work, we model the image formation in the ISO fluorescence microscope and simulate its point spread function.

Isotropic diffraction-limited focusing using a single objective lens.

Focusing a light beam through a lens produces an anisotropic spot elongated along the optical axis, because the light comes from only one side of the focal point. Using the time-reversal concept, we show that isotropic focusing can be realized by placing a mirror after the focal point and shaping the incident beam. This idea is applied to confocal microscopy and brings about a dramatic improvement of the axial resolution.

Nanoroughened plasmonic films for enhanced biosensing detection.

Although fluorescence is the prevailing labeling technique in biosensing applications, sensitivity improvement is still a striving challenge. We show that coating standard microscope slides with nanoroughened silver films provides a high fluorescence signal enhancement due to plasmonic interactions. As a proof of concept, we applied these films with tailored plasmonic properties to DNA microarrays.

Mirror slides for high-sensitivity cell and tissue fluorescence imaging.

Fluorescence microscopy has become the method of choice in the majority of life-science applications. We describe development and use of mirror slides to significantly enhance the fluorescence signal using standard air microscope objectives. This technique offers sufficient gain to achieve high-sensitivity imaging, together with wide field of observation and large depth of focus, two major breakthroughs for routine analysis and high-throughput screening applications on cells and tissue samples.