Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopic imaging shows segregation within binary self-assembled thiol monolayers at ambient conditions.

Phase segregation of coadsorbed thiol molecules on a gold surface was investigated with nanoscale chemical imaging using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS). Samples were prepared using mixed solutions containing thiophenol (PhS) and an oligomeric phenylene-ethynylene (OPE) thiol, with 10:1, 2:1, and 1:1 molar ratios. Phase segregation into domains with sizes from ≈30 to 240 nm is observed with these molar ratios.

Nanoscale mapping of catalytic activity using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Chemical mapping of a photocatalytic reaction with nanoscale spatial resolution is demonstrated for the first time using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS). An ultrathin alumina film applied to the Ag-coated TERS tip blocks catalytic interference whilst maintaining near-field electromagnetic enhancement, thus enabling spectroscopic imaging of catalytic activity on nanostructured Ag surfaces.

Elastic properties of viruses.

Viruses are compact biological nanoparticles whose elastic and dynamical properties are hardly known. Inelastic (Brillouin) light scattering was used to characterize these properties, from microcrystals of the Satellite Tobacco Mosaic Virus, a nearly spherical plant virus of 17-nm diameter. Longitudinal sound velocities in wet and dry Satellite Tobacco Mosaic Virus crystals were determined and compared to that of the well-known protein crystal, lysozyme.

Josephson junction through a thin ferromagnetic layer: negative coupling.

We investigate Josephson coupling through a ferromagnetic thin film using superconductor-insulator-ferromagnet-superconductor planar junctions. Damped oscillations of the critical current are observed as a function of the ferromagnetic layer thickness. We show that they result from the exchange energy gained or lost by a quasiparticle Andreev-reflected at the ferromagnet-superconductor interface.