High-resolution microscopy of plasmon field distributions by scanning tunneling luminescence and photoemission electron microscopies

The exploitation of plasmon resonances to promote the interaction between conjugated molecules and optical fields motivates intensive research. The objectives are to understand the mechanisms of plasmon-mediated interactions, and to realize molecularly- or atomically-precise metal nanostructures, combining field enhancements and optical antenna effects. In this review paper, we present examples of plasmonic-field mappings based on scanning tunneling microscope (STM)-induced light emission or multiphoton photoemission (PEEM), two techniques among those which offer todayʼs best spatial resolutions for plasmon microscopy. An unfamiliar property of the junction of an STM is its ability to behave as a highly localized source of light. It can be exploited to probe optoelectronic properties, in particular plasmonic fields, with ultimate subnanometer spatial resolution, an advantage balanced by a sometimes delicate deconvolution of local-probe influence. Alternatively, local-probe disadvantages can be overcome by imaging the photoemitted electrons, using well-established electron optics. This allows obtaining two-dimensional intensity maps reflecting the unperturbed distribution of the optical near field. This approach provides full field spectroscopic images with a routine spatial resolution of the order of 20 nm (down to 5 nm with recent aberration corrected instruments).