New routes for imaging the optical near-fields of plasmonic nanostructures

The surface plasmons of metal films and nanostructures are increasingly well-known for applications in sensor technologies and photonics applications. Their potential is largely due to the plasmons' characteristic as an interface phenomenon and the generation of an optical near-field at the interface. In many cases, the spatial dimensions of the near-field lie significantly below the diffraction limit of conventional optics in at least one dimension. This requires novel methods means for imaging their spatial profile and propagation properties. We present recent methods ongoing in our laboratory for imaging plasmonic features of metal nanostructures