Microcantilever based distance control between a probe and a surface.

We demonstrate a method to control the distance between a custom probe and a sample on a µm to nm scale. The method relies on the closed-loop feedback on the angular deflection of an in-contact AFM microcantilever. High performance in stability and accuracy is achieved in this method by taking advantage of the small mechanical feedback path between surface and probe. We describe how internal error sources that find their origin in the microcantilever and feedback can be minimized to achieve an accurate and precise control up to 3 nm. In particular, we investigated how hysteresis effects in the feedback caused by friction forces between tip and substrate can be minimized. By applying a short calibration procedure, distance control from contact to several micrometers probe-sample distance can be obtained with an absolute nanometer-scale accuracy. The method presented is compatible with any probe that can be fixed on a microcantilever chip and can be easily built into existing AFM systems.

Local investigation of the optical properties of subwavelength rectangular holes with a focused beam of electrons.

The optical properties of rectangular subwavelength holes in a gold film are investigated using the light generated when a focused beam of electrons impinges on the sample close to the hole. Using this technique, multi-spectral maps of the holes are obtained with a resolution beyond the optical diffraction limit. The results show the influence of hole shape on the spectrum of locally scattered light. Rectangular holes of varying shape and size are investigated, and the spatial distribution of the polarization of the observed light is measured. The influence of neighbouring holes is investigated by measuring small clusters of holes.

Magnetic light-matter interactions in a photonic crystal nanocavity.

We study the magnetic coupling between a metal-coated near-field probe and a photonic crystal nanocavity. The resonance of the nanocavity shifts to shorter wavelengths when the ringlike apex of the probe is above an antinode of the magnetic field of the cavity. We show that this can be attributed to a magnetic light-matter interaction and is in fact a manifestation of Lenz's law at optical frequencies. We use these measurements to determine the magnetic polarizability of the apex of the probe and find good agreement with theory. We discuss how this method could be applied to study the electric and magnetic polarizibilities of nano-objects.

Strong modification of the nonlinear optical response of metallic subwavelength hole arrays.

The influence of hole shape on the nonlinear optical properties of metallic subwavelength hole arrays is investigated. It is found that the amount of second harmonics generated can be enhanced by changing the hole shape. In part this increase is a direct result of the effect of hole shape on the linear transmission properties. Remarkably, in addition to enhancements that follow directly from the linear properties of the array, we find a hot hole shape. For rectangular holes the effective nonlinear response is enhanced by more than 1 order of magnitude for one particular aspect ratio. This enhancement can be attributed to slow propagation of the fundamental wavelength through the holes which occurs close to the hole cutoff.