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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 93 » Issue 18
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 180801 (2004) [4 pages]

Tip-Enhanced Fluorescence Microscopy at 10 Nanometer Resolution

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Jordan M. Gerton*, Lawrence A. Wade, Guillaume A. Lessard, Z. Ma, and Stephen R. Quake
Department of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, MC 128-95, Pasadena, California 91125, USA

Received 12 December 2003; published 28 October 2004

See accompanying Physics Focus

We demonstrate unambiguously that the field enhancement near the apex of a laser-illuminated silicon tip decays according to a power law that is moderated by a single parameter characterizing the tip sharpness. Oscillating the probe in intermittent contact with a semiconductor nanocrystal strongly modulates the fluorescence excitation rate, providing robust optical contrast and enabling excellent background rejection. Laterally encoded demodulation yields images with <10  nm spatial resolution, consistent with independent measurements of tip sharpness.

© 2004 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.180801
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.180801
PACS:
07.79.Fc, 42.50.Hz, 61.46.+w, 78.67.Bf

*Permanent address: University of UT, Department of Physics, 115 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112.

 
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