Plasmonic spectra of individual subwavelength particles under the infrared microscope: cells and airborne dust

A plasmonic metal film with a subwavelength hole array (a mesh) is used to capture an individual subwavelength particle, like a single yeast cell or airborne dust particle, and an imaging infrared (IR) microscope, records a scatterfree, IR absorption spectrum of the particle. Individual spectra of wavelength scale particles usually suffer from large scattering effects. This paper starts by demonstrating the plasmonic nature of the mesh in the infrared, proceeds to how this special form of light (surface plasmon polariton mediated transmission resonance) leads to scatter-free IR absorption spectra of individual, subwavelength particles, and ends with work on yeast cells and dust particles from our laboratory air and a household filter.

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