Resolving plasmonic hotspots by label-free super-resolution microscopy

Opt Lett. 2022 Jan 15;47(2):210-213. doi: 10.1364/OL.443571.

Abstract

The plasmonic hotspot of metal nanostructures has small dimension far beyond the optical diffraction limit. When trying to locate the hotspot using fluorescent probes, the localization is significantly distorted due to the coupling of emission and surface plasmon. A label-free technique can solve the problem, which uses hotspot emission as the native probe. We demonstrate a super-resolution microscopy investigation based on this idea. By modulating hotspot emission of crossed silver nanowires, which have a pair of plasmonic hotspots approximately 100 nm apart at the intersection, we precisely locate and separate them with nanometer precision. This label-free technique could be applied for analyzing hotspot distribution with high efficiency and precision.

MeSH terms

  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Microscopy*
  • Nanostructures*

Substances

  • Fluorescent Dyes