Detection of contrast objects inside biological media by near-field microwave diagnostics

Theoretical and experimental investigations demonstrate the prospects of near-field microwave location of malignant tumors in biological tissue. The theoretical analysis is performed in terms of the theory of near-field location developed for layered structures. The experimental verification of the theory is accomplished by sounding an aqueous medium with a controllable permittivity. The tumor contrast is calculated based on the ideas of the dielectric properties of healthy and affected human tissues. The reason for and the degree of background contrasts as applied to near-field measurements are studied experimentally. An optimal measuring scheme for minimizing the masking effect of background contrasts is proposed. The 2D images of a tumor-simulating contrast object immersed in the aqueous medium at different depths are obtained. The prospects of near-field diagnostics for subsurface temperature measurement are discussed.     

Determination of the sheet resistance of semiconductor films via near-field microwave microscopy

A method is proposed for determining the sheet resistance of a semiconductor film on a dielectric substrate with the help of a near-field (NF) microwave microscope. The method is based on the theory of NF probing of the object with an arbitrary 1D permittivity profile. The theoretical model parameters are found from calibration measurements performed with the use of a universal set of reference samples. The test structures are GaN films grown on an Al₂O₃ substrate. A comparison with dc measurements indicates that the method error is approximately 20%.     

Imaging with reflection near-field optical microscope: contributions of middle and far fields

Within the framework of a microscopic formalism, we present a theoretical analysis of the imaging properties of scanning near-field optical microscopy in reflection. The detected optical signal is assumed to be proportional to the intensity of the self-consistent field at the site of the probe dipole. Influence of different components (near, middle and far fields) of the field propagator on the total field intensity is numerically studied for two arrangements of object dipoles and for various probe-surface distances. We demonstrate that for relatively large distances the middle-field components dominate in the total field and ensure the subwavelength resolution. Imaging properties of the reflection near-field microscopy observed experimentally are qualitatively explained with the help of our numerical simulations.     

Near-Field Optical Transfer Function for Far-Field Super-Resolution Imaging

The far-field superlens based on surface plasmon polaritons （SPP） has shown great application potential, but it is difficult and time-consuming to reconstruct the far-field image. We derive a near-field optical transfer function （NOTF） of a silver slab and analyse its validity so that accurate information of nano-seale object in the near-field can be computed rapidly. The NOTF is helpful not only for analysing the super-resolution imaging process in far-field, but also for providing a track to describe the transmission of optical information from near-field to far-field by using the optical transfer functions theorv only.     

Nanoscale near-field infrared spectroscopic imaging of silica-shell/gold-core and pure silica nanoparticles

Spectroscopic near-field imaging of single silica-shell/Au-core and pure silica nanoparticles deposited on a silicon substrate is performed in the infrared wavelength range (λ = 9–11 μm) using scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM). By tuning the wavelength of the incident light, we have acquired information on the spectral phonon–polariton resonant near-field interactions of the silica-shell/Au-core and pure silica nanoparticles with the probing tip. We made use of the enhanced near-field coupling between the high index Au-core and the probing tip to achieve spectral near-field contrast of the thin silica coating (thickness < 10 nm). Our results show that spectroscopic imaging of thin coating layers and complex core–shell nanoparticles can be directly performed by s-SNOM.     

Multipole analysis of the radiation from near-field optical probes

We experimentally and theoretically analyze the radiation emitted from subwavelength-sized apertures in near-field optical probes. By decomposing the experimentally obtained radiation patterns into vector spherical waves, we describe the fields in terms of a series of multipole sources. We fit polarization-resolved angular intensity distributions, measured as far as 150 degrees from the normal, with dipole, quadrupole, and octupole radiation. We find that the magnetic and the electric dipole components are dominant but that the interference terms between dipoles and higher-order poles are not negligible. This result can be used as the basis for understanding near-field optical interactions and images.     

Structural dependency of optical excitation transfer via optical near-field interactions between semiconductor quantum dots

The distribution dependency of quantum dots was theoretically and experimentally investigated with respect to the basic properties optical excitation transfer via optical near-field interactions between quantum dots. The effects of three-dimensional structure and arraying precision of quantum dots on the signal transfer performance were analyzed. In addition, the quantum dot distribution dependency of the signal transfer performance was experimentally evaluated by using stacked CdSe quantum dots and an optical near-field fiber probe tip laminated with quantum dots serving as an output terminal, showing good agreement with theory. These results demonstrate the basic properties of signal transfer via optical near-field interactions and serve as guidelines for a nanostructure design optimized to attain the desired signal transfer performances.     

纳米光学和生物单分子探测

纳米光学技术展示了纳米级探测本领，同时生物单分子探测所需要分辨尺度也是纳米数量级的，因此在生物单分子探测过程中，纳米光学发挥了巨大的作用．文章介绍了与生物单分子探测技术相关的纳米光学技术，包括量子近场光学探针技术、近场光学成像技术(包括扫描近场光学显微术及全内反射荧光显微术)和激光光钳测控技术及它们在生物单分子探测上的进展，从而在染色、成像、测控三个方面展示了纳米光学技术在生物方面的应用，并对其未来的发展方向进行了展望．     

Features in phase-contrast images of micropipes in SiC in white synchrotron radiation beam

An interesting feature in phase-contrast images of micropipes in silicon carbide in white synchrotron radiation beam was experimentally studied and theoretically explained. This feature consists in that a change in micropipe cross-section sizes does not lead to changes in its image sizes, but has an effect only on the contrast. The experiment was performed on the synchrotron radiation source in Pohang, South Korea. On the one hand, this effect is explained by a small phase progression caused by the micropipe, and, on the other hand, by satisfying the conditions for Fraunhofer diffraction, when the transverse micropipe size is smaller than the first Fresnel zone diameter. As a rule, the near-field conditions are satisfied in X-ray optics when only object edges are imaged. However, micropipes are so small that the standard edge theory is inapplicable. A universal intensity distribution profile was obtained for micropipes with very small cross sections.     

High-sensitivity near-field laser microscopy

We propose a new method of laser spectroscopy, which combines high subwavelength space resolution, high sensitivity, and spectral resolution. The method is based on using a fiber laser near the generation threshold instead of a fiber optical near-field microscope. The near-field subwavelength aperture in the “active” fiber is employed for probing. Absorption on the objects under consideration (atoms, molecules, nanostructure, etc.) leads to the failure of oscillations in the fiber laser. We make a computer simulation of the system under consideration and analyze the method’s sensitivity.     

The influence of the numerical aperture of a beam probing an object on the determination of the thickness of a layered object in confocal microscopy

The influence of the numerical aperture of a light beam probing an object on the value measured with a confocal interference microscope when determining the thickness of layered object has been theoretically and experimentally investigated. The dependence of the measured value on the numerical aperture in the form of an analytical formula is obtained. It is established that the measured value is determined by the average longitudinal spatial frequency of the field probing the object. The results of experimental verification of the dependence obtained allow us to conclude that it is possible to increase the measurement accuracy of geometrical thickness and refractive index of layered micro-objects by the methods of confocal microscopy.

     

Efficient optical near-field energy transfer along an Au nanodot coupler with size-dependent resonance

We confirmed that the light intensity (λ=785 nm) scattered from an isolated hemispherical Au nanoparticle was resonantly enhanced at a diameter of 200 nm and a height of 50 nm, as observed experimentally using a collection-mode near-field optical microscope. The experimental results agreed with the calculated results using Mie’s theory. Furthermore, we observed resonant energy transfer of the optical near-field energy along a chain of Au nanoparticles. The magnitude of the transferred energy increased resonantly at the size of resonant light scattering for an isolated Au nanoparticle (200 nm diameter with 240 nm center-to-center separation). PACS 42.82.Et; 73.20.Mf; 78.67.Bf     

Reciprocity in scanning near-field optical microscopy: illumination and collection modes of transmission measurements

We experimentally investigated the reciprocity of scanning near-field optical microscopy between illumination and collection modes. Near-field transmission images of single gold spheres and nanorods observed by the two modes are found to be equivalent to each other in the region from visible to near infrared. This result shows that reciprocity holds for the near-field scattering problems. We found that the conventional optical selection rule for far-field excitations does not apply not only under illumination mode but also with collection-mode arrangements. The possible origin of this observation might be the near-field probe.     

Experimental research on the longitudinal field generated by a tightly focused beam

The longitudinal optical field is a peculiar physical phenomenon that is always involved with the domain of near-field optics. Due to its extraordinary properties, it has recently attracted increasing attention in research and application. In this work, the longitudinal fields generated by the evanescent illumination of tightly focused, different polarized hollow beams are investigated. The focused light fields are numerically simulated according to vector diffraction theory, and their vector analysis is also carried out. The longitudinal fields on the focal plane are demonstrated experimentally using tip-enhanced scanning near-field microscopy. The simulation and experimental results show that the tightly focused radially polarized beam is suited to generating a stronger and purer longitudinal optical field at the focus.     

Phenomenon of Frustrated Total Internal Reflection in the Near-Field Interference Microwave Sounding

Russian Physics Journal - A new approach is proposed in solving the problems of active near-field microwave probing of materials, objects and media. According to this approach, the probing near...     

Observation of the wave function of a quantum billiard from the transverse patterns of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers

We demonstrate experimentally that the near-field and far-field transverse patterns of a large aperture vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) can be successfully interpreted as a two-dimensional (2D) billiard system. It is found that the near-field and far-field transverse patterns of a large aperture VCSEL evidently represent the coordinate-space and momentum-space wave functions of a 2D quantum billiard, respectively. The result of this paper suggests that large aperture VCSELs are potentially appropriate physical systems for the wave-function study in quantum problems.     

天线方向系数的一类计算逼近方法

天线的方向系数是天线的核心性能指标之一,准确计算方向系数是高性能天线应用的核心要求.本文基于平面近场测试理论、实测数据和快速傅里叶变换算法,系统阐述基于近场测试来数值计算天线方向系数的原理,并进行深入的误差分析.本文选择一种方向图函数和方向系数已知的被测天线,来检验所讨论的误差评估方案.评估分两步实现,第一步,针对这一天线,采用标准的近场测试配置,仿真模拟出(相当于实际测量出)一套平面近场数据.第二步,基于这套近场数据,利用数值积分计算出天线方向系数.本文使用或提出了四种数值算法,分析了提出的后三种算法本身的误差来源,并开发出程序搜索方案,确定出后两种算法的最小误差界.随后,利用这四种数值算法分别得出天线的方向系数.结果表明,计算所得的近场方向系数都比真实方向系数大,但误差不超过0.6 d B.这一结果对实际应用中正确评估基于近场测试的天线方向系数准确性有重要参考价值.     

Near-field microwave tomography of biological objects

A method of finding the subsurface temperature distribution in biological media from near-field microwave probing data is suggested. The electrodynamic problem of probe response to a temperature profile disturbance ΔT(z) in a medium is solved. An integral equation that relates the shift of the resonant frequency of the probe to the function ΔT(z) is derived. The effective near-field probing depth is shown to depend on the probe aperture, its elevation above the surface, and the wavelength. In this method, several probes operate simultaneously, receiving signals from different depths, and the temperature profile is reconstructed by inverting the related integral equation. The components and parameters of a measuring facility that provides the temperature profi le reconstruction accurate to 0.5°C to a depth of up to 5 cm are established. The procedure of near-field diagnostics is simulated in a computer experiment to check the accuracy predicted. Calculation is performed based on a model of permittivity of biological media.     

Dual mode near-field scanning optical microscopy for near-field imaging of surface plasmon polariton

In this paper, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that metal coated apertured probes are efficient near-field probes on surfaces with high reflectivity for the scattering as well as for the collection mode near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). We show that a blunt apertured metal coated tip is very effective in suppressing image dipoles which affect strongly the signals scattered from frequently used sharp metal tips or gold nanoparticle attached probes. By using a simultaneous collection and scattering mode (dual mode) NSOM we measure the near-field images of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) launched from a slit. The collection mode measures propagating SPP along lateral distance in a long scan range with high signal-to-noise ratio, and the scattering mode measures the polarization resolved near-field of SPP. Comparisons of the measured data obtained in the dual mode enable to easily characterize SPP and to separate the measured near-field into the propagating SPP and the directly transmitted light.