Premium
A tracking‐based nanoimaging method for fast detection of surfaces' inhomogeneities using gold nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Gabriel Manuela,
Anzalone Andrea,
Gratton Enrico,
Estrada Laura C.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
microscopy research and technique
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1097-0029
pISSN - 1059-910X
DOI - 10.1002/jemt.23350
Subject(s) - colloidal gold , polarization (electrochemistry) , nanoparticle , laser , optics , materials science , irradiation , laser beams , beam (structure) , nanotechnology , tracking (education) , optoelectronics , chemistry , physics , psychology , pedagogy , nuclear physics
The localization of surfaces inhomogeneities is central to many areas of technology, chemistry and biology, ranging from surface defects in industry to the identification and screening of early bio‐defects inside cells. The development of methods that enable direct, sensitive, and rapid detection of those inhomogeneities is both relevant and timely. To address this challenge, we developed a far‐field nanoimaging method to detect the presence of surface's nanodefects that modify the signal emitted by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) under laser irradiation. Our technique is based on the formation of hot spots due to the confinement of light in the proximity of the AuNP, whose positions depend on the polarization direction of the incident beam. An inhomogeneity is detected as an increase in the intensity collected from the hot spots when a laser beam is orbiting the nanoparticle and the incident polarization direction of the laser beam is changed periodically.