Open AccessThird- and second-harmonic generation microscopy of individual metal nanocones using cylindrical vector beams
Author(s) -
Godofredo Bautista,
Mikko J. Huttunen,
Juha Kontio,
Janne Simonen,
Martti Kauranen
Publication year - 2013
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.21.021918
Subject(s) - second harmonic generation , optics , materials science , microscopy , polarization (electrochemistry) , second harmonic imaging microscopy , high harmonic generation , optical microscope , nonlinear optics , transverse plane , scanning electron microscope , physics , laser , chemistry , structural engineering , engineering
We demonstrate third- (THG) and second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy of individual silver nanocones using tightly focused cylindrical vector beams (CVBs). Although THG is expected to be a weaker process than SHG, the yield for THG with radial polarization was higher than for SHG. We also found an excellent correlation between the imaging properties of THG and SHG, suggesting that both are governed by the same overall features of the individual nanocone. We also found that the transverse spatial resolution of THG with CVBs, particularly RP, exceeds that of SHG. Our work establishes the potential of THG microscopy with CVBs for structure-sensitive imaging of three-dimensional (3D) metal nano-objects.