Spectroscopic scanning near-field optical microscopy with a free electron laser: CH2 bond imaging in diamond films |
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| Authors: | A Cricenti R Generosi M Luce P Perfetti G Margaritondo† D Talley‡ J S Sanghera‡ I D Aggarwal‡ J M Gilligan§ & N H Tolk§ |
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| Affiliation: | Istituto di Stuttura della Materia, via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Roma, Italy;Institut de physique appliquée, Ecole Polytecnique Fédérale, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;Optical Sciences Division, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave SE, Washington, DC 20375, U.S.A.;Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Hydrogen chemistry in thin films and biological systems is one of the most difficult experimental problems in today's science and technology. We successfully tested a novel solution, based on the spectroscopic version of scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM). The tunable infrared radiation of the Vanderbilt free electron laser enabled us to reveal clearly hydrogen-decorated grain boundaries on nominally hydrogen-free diamond films. The images were obtained by SNOM detection of reflected 3.5 µm photons, corresponding to the C–H stretch absorption, and reached a lateral resolution of 0.2 µm, well below the λ/2 (λ= wavelength) limit of classical microscopy. |
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| Keywords: | Diamond free electron laser (FEL) scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) |
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