Localizing nanoscale objects using nanophotonic near-field transducers

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Publication date
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2020-0669
Reference T.A.W. Wolterink, R.D. Buijs, G. Gerini, A.F. Koenderink and E. Verhagen, Localizing nanoscale objects using nanophotonic near-field transducers, Nanophotonics 10, (6), 1723-1732 (2021)
Groups Photonic Forces, Resonant Nanophotonics

We study how nanophotonic structures can be used for determining the position of a nearby nanoscale object with subwavelength accuracy. Through perturbing the near-field environment of a metasurface transducer consisting of nano-apertures in a metallic film, the location of the nanoscale object is transduced into the transducer’s far-field optical response. By monitoring the scattering pattern of the nanophotonic near-field transducer and comparing it to measured reference data, we demonstrate the two-dimensional localization of the object accurate to 24 nm across an area of 2 × 2 μm. We find that adding complexity to the nanophotonic transducer allows localization over a larger area while maintaining resolution, as it enables encoding more information on the position of the object in the transducer’s far-field response.