Open AccessMapping the local dielectric response at the nanoscale by means of plasmonic force spectroscopy
Author(s) -
Francesco De Angelis,
Remo Proietti Zaccaria,
E. Di Fabrizio
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.20.029626
Subject(s) - plasmon , materials science , optics , nanoscopic scale , surface plasmon polariton , optical force , optical tweezers , surface plasmon , permittivity , spectroscopy , force spectroscopy , dielectric , optoelectronics , local field , microscopy , nanotechnology , physics , atomic force microscopy , condensed matter physics , quantum mechanics
At the present, the local optical properties of nanostructured materials are difficult to be measured by available instrumentation. We investigated the capability of plasmonic force spectroscopy of measuring the optical response at the nanoscale. The proposed technique is based on force measurements performed by combining Atomic Force Microscopy, or optical tweezers, and adiabatic compression of surface plasmon polaritons. We show that the optical forces, caused by the plasmonic field, depend on the local response of the substrates and, in principle, allow probing both the real and the imaginary part of the local permittivity with a spatial resolution of few nanometers.