© Tim Davis

Publication in Science on Nanooptics

New Form of Microscopy Developed

  • von Birte Vierjahn
  • 24.04.2020

The duration of their snapshot relates to a second as this second does to the age of the universe: Physicists from the Center for Nanointegration (CENIDE) at UDE have developed ultra-fast vector microscopy as a means of determining electric fields on surfaces with high temporal and spatial resolution. This breakthrough in nanooptics is published in the current issue of “Science.”

Nanooptics is all about interactions between light and matter. Researchers engaged in this field use spectroscopic and microscopic methods to observe and influence the properties and states of tiny structures and even individual molecules. Like with optical computers, which are still in their infancy: their structures can be far smaller than the wavelength of light, and they require tricks such as nano-antennas to couple light into nanostructures effectively. However, it is quite challenging to analyze the electric fields around such structures in space and time.

A team of physicists led by Professor Frank-J. Meyer zu Heringdorf (UDE), the Australian nanooptics expert Dr. Timothy J. Davis, and Professor Harald Gießen (University of Stuttgart) have now realized a pioneering achievement: With their vector microscopy, based on time-resolved 2-photon photoemission microscopy, they have been able to analyze the electrical fields on a metal surface with pinpoint accuracy and temporal precision – down to 10 nanometers of local resolution and in less than 0.000 000 000 000 001 second.

"This is a real breakthrough,” says Meyer zu Heringdorf, who is also a member of UDE's Collaborative Research Centre, "Non-equilibrium dynamics of condensed matter in the time domain." "This means that every point of an electric field on a surface can be observed at any time – even in the tiniest structures."

 

More detailed article on CENIDE’s website.

Image: Visualization of electric fields measured with the new technology.

Original Publication:
T.J. Davis, D. Janoschka, P. Dreher, B. Frank, F.-J. Meyer zu Heringdorf, H. Giessen
„Ultrafast vector imaging of plasmonic skyrmion dynamics with deep subwavelength resolution“
Science 368, 6489 (2020)                   
DOI: 10.1126/science.aba6415

Further Information:
Prof. Dr. Frank-J. Meyer zu Heringdorf, Experimental Physics, +49 203 37 9-1465, meyerzh@uni-due.de

Editor: Birte Vierjahn, +49 203 37 9-8176, birte.vierjahn@uni-due.de

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