ABSTRACT
A planar slab of negative-index material works as a superlens with sub-diffraction-limited resolution, as propagating waves are focused and, moreover, evanescent waves are reconstructed in the image plane. Here we demonstrate a superlens for electric evanescent fields with low losses using perovskites in the mid-infrared regime. The combination of near-field microscopy with a tunable free-electron laser allows us to address precisely the polariton modes, which are critical for super-resolution imaging. We spectrally study the lateral and vertical distributions of evanescent waves around the image plane of such a lens, and achieve imaging resolution of λ/14 at the superlensing wavelength. Interestingly, at certain distances between the probe and sample surface, we observe a maximum of these evanescent fields. Comparisons with numerical simulations indicate that this maximum originates from an enhanced coupling between probe and object, which might be applicable for multifunctional circuits, infrared spectroscopy and thermal sensors.
Subject(s)
Calcium Compounds , Lenses , Molecular Imaging/methods , Oxides , Titanium , Computer Simulation , Electricity , Molecular Imaging/instrumentation , Spectrophotometry, Infrared/methodsABSTRACT
We report on the deposition of planar lipid bilayers (supported membranes) on gallium nitride (GaN) electrodes for potential applications as membrane-based biosensors. The kinetics of the lipid membrane formation upon vesicle fusion were monitored by simultaneous measurements of resistance and capacitance of the membrane using AC impedance spectroscopy in the frequency range between 50 mHz and 50 kHz. We could identify a two-step process of membrane spreading and self-healing. Despite its relatively low resistance, the membrane can be modeled by a parallel combination of an ideal resistor and capacitor, indicating that the membrane efficiently blocks the diffusion of ions.
Subject(s)
Biosensing Techniques/methods , Gallium/chemistry , Lipid Bilayers/metabolism , Dielectric Spectroscopy/methods , Diffusion , Electric Capacitance , Electrochemistry , Electrodes , Ions/chemistry , Ions/metabolism , Lipid Bilayers/chemistry , Membrane FusionABSTRACT
We demonstrate a scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope (s-SNOM) with broadband THz illumination. A cantilevered W tip is used in tapping AFM mode. The direct scattering spectrum is obtained and optimized by asynchronous optical sampling (ASOPS), while near-field scattering is observed by using a space-domain delay stage and harmonic demodulation of the detector signal. True near-field interaction is determined from the approach behavior of the tip to Au samples. Scattering spectra of differently doped Si are presented.
