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Near-field Nantennas and Neutral Atom Microscopes: New Nanoscale Imaging Techniques

Near-field Nantennas and Neutral Atom Microscopes: New Nanoscale Imaging Techniques

Monday, February 23, 2015 at 4:00 pm
Weniger 116
Prof. Erik Sanchez, Dept. of Physics, Portland State University
Imaging at the nanoscale with present technologies usually includes electron microscopes, optical super-resolution systems and scanning probe microscopies. Near-field microscopy is a combination of optical and scanning probe microscopies to image at the nanoscale. One specific variation of Near-field microscopy involves the development of a localized field enhancement based on nanoscale antennas (nantennas) making it possible to optically image at 10-20 nm spatial resolution as well as having a single molecule level of detection sensitivity for both Raman and fluorescence. Another tool being developed in our group, the Neutral Atom Microscope (NAM) has the ability to image magnetic and biological samples as well as beam sensitive surfaces without damage. This system utilizes a scattered neutral beam of He atoms to image. Since the beam is uncharged and is created by a simple differential pressure, the impinging beam has energies of interaction on the level of 10’s of meV. This allows for imaging of delicate surfaces which a scanning electron microscope cannot accomplish without damage, even at the typical low energies of 100’s of eV for electrons. This talk will cover the latest progress in these topics and other forms of metrology being advanced in the NanoDevelopment Lab at Portland State University.
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