Harnessing ultraconfined graphene plasmons to probe the electrodynamics of superconductors

We show that the Higgs mode of a superconductor, which is usually challenging to observe by far-field optics, can be made clearly visible using near-field optics by harnessing ultraconfined graphene plasmons. As near-field sources we investigate two examples: graphene plasmons and quantum emitters. In both cases the coupling to the Higgs mode is clearly visible. In the case of the graphene plasmons, the coupling is signaled by a clear anticrossing stemming from the interaction of graphene plasmons with the Higgs mode of the superconductor. In the case of the quantum emitters, the Higgs mode is observable through the Purcell effect. When combining the superconductor, graphene, and the quantum emitters, a number of experimental knobs become available for unveiling and studying the electrodynamics of superconductors.

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Near-field plasmon-resonance scanning microscopy

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100136611 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 53 ◽

pp. 48-49

Author(s):

Sheldon Schultz

Keyword(s):

Plasmon Resonance ◽

Near Field ◽

Far Field ◽

Lateral Size ◽

Physical Sciences ◽

Signal To Noise ◽

Near Field Optics ◽

The Past ◽

Plane Light ◽

Sub Wavelength

In the past few years the field of near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) has developed rapidly with applications spanning all the physical sciences. A key goal of this form of microscopy is to obtain resolution at levels well beyond those possible with the usual far-field optics. In contrast to far-field optics, which is bounded by the well known limits imposed by diffraction, near-field optics has no "in principle" fundamental lower limit in lateral size, at least down to atomic dimensions, although in practice, signal-to-noise considerations may restrict the application of NSOM to a few nanometers.The simplest form of NSOM to visualize is based on the principle of a sub-wavelength aperture (with D/λ < < 1) in an opaque plane. Light impinging on this aperture may only be transmitted through the diameter D, and, indeed, were it observed in the far-field, would be spread out over the entire half space due to diffraction. However, if the sample to be studied is placed in the near-field of the aperture, say within a distance D away, the region illuminated will also be restricted to a lateral dimension very close to D.

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Near-Field Plasmon-Resonance Scanning Microscopy

Microscopy Today ◽

10.1017/s1551929500062842 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 3 (8) ◽

pp. 3-4

Author(s):

Sheldon Schultz

Keyword(s):

Plasmon Resonance ◽

Near Field ◽

Far Field ◽

Lateral Size ◽

Physical Sciences ◽

Signal To Noise ◽

Near Field Optics ◽

The Past ◽

Scanning Optical Microscopy ◽

Near Field Scanning

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Attaboy! Attoboys, or the new Zeptoscopists

Microscopy Today ◽

10.1017/s1551929500069029 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 1 (8) ◽

pp. 2-3 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jean-Paul Revel

Keyword(s):

Optical Microscopy ◽

Near Field ◽

Scanning Force Microscopy ◽

Scanning Tunneling ◽

Far Field ◽

Force Microscopy ◽

Near Field Optics ◽

Scanning Force ◽

Scanning Optical Microscopy ◽

Near Field Scanning

As the year ends there is a bumper crop of announcements of advances that I find absolutely amazing. First of course is the continued clever use of light as a veritable tool in manipulating everything from atoms (entrapping them in “atomic molasses”) to having tugs of war with biological motors (using “light tweezers”). But these developments will be for discussion another time. What I want to talk about in this installment are advances in Near Field Scanning Optical Microscopy (NSOM), which has now been used by Chichester and Betzig to visualize single molecules.In classical (far field) optics, resolution is limited by diffraction to about 1/2 the wavelength of the radiation used for imaging. Near field optics overcome this limitation by use of scanning techniques similar to those employed in Scanning Tunneling or Scanning Force Microscopy.

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MAGNETO-OPTICS OF QUANTUM DOTS IN THE NEAR FIELD

International Journal of Modern Physics B ◽

10.1142/s0217979207043361 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 21 (08n09) ◽

pp. 1649-1653

Author(s):

CONSTANTINOS SIMSERIDES ◽

ANNA ZORA ◽

GEORGIOS TRIBERIS

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Spatial Resolution ◽

Near Field ◽

Resolving Power ◽

Zero Magnetic Field ◽

Far Field ◽

Field Orientation ◽

Structural Symmetry ◽

Near Field Optics ◽

The Magnetic Field

We examine a quantum dot (QD) illuminated in the near field with subwavelength spatial resolution, while simultaneously it is subjected to a magnetic field of variable orientation and magnitude. The magnetic field orientation can conserve or destroy the zero-magnetic-field ("structural") symmetry. The asymmetry induced by the magnetic field -except for specific orientations along symmetry axes- can be uncovered in the near-field (NF) but not in the far-field (FF) spectra. We predict that NF magnetoabsorption experiments of realistic spatial resolution could reveal the QD symmetry. This exceptional symmetry-resolving power of the near-field optics, is lost in the far field.

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What Do we Really See? Resolution in Near-Field Optical Microscopy

Microscopy and Microanalysis ◽

10.1017/s1431927600012800 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 3 (S2) ◽

pp. 1183-1184

Author(s):

M.S. Isaacson

Keyword(s):

Optical Microscopy ◽

Near Field ◽

Optical Resolution ◽

Super Resolution ◽

Far Field ◽

Near Field Optics ◽

Near Field Imaging ◽

The Subject ◽

Super Resolution Microscopy ◽

Field Imaging

Six years ago there was a symposium held at the 1991 EMS A meeting to discuss the issue of “Resolution in the Microscope”.1 In this paper, we will look at resolution in near-field imaging, a blossoming field, and see whether any of our concepts have changed.It has been only within the last decade that the concept of super-resolution microscopy in the near field has been vigorously pursued and experimentally demonstrated. (For reviews on the subject, the reader is referred to the proceedings of the second and third international conferences on near field optics.) However, as in most areas of microscopy, the idea is not new, but rather rediscovered after decades of dormancy.The idea of optical resolution unhindered by far-field diffraction limitations was conceived more than a half-century ago by E.H. Synge4 in a paper entitled “A Suggested Method for Extending Microscopy Resolution into the Ultra-Microscope Regime”.

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