STTR Phase I: Surface Plasmon Enhanced High Efficiency Near-field Probes

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I research project will develop near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) probes with dramatically increased transmission efficiency that will lead to increased spatial resolution and higher scan speed. High transmission efficiency will be achieved by incorporation of newly discovered near-field surface plasmon affects. NSOM probes using surface plasmon enhancement will have 2-3 orders of magnitude higher transmission than existing probes, allowing faster scanning speeds as well as better spatial resolution. A combination of first principles modeling and nanofabrication of test structures in Phase I will provide proof of concept as well as a guide for Phase II optimization. This program will push the fundamental scientific understanding of near-field optics while simultaneously enhancing the capabilities of commercial NSOM metrology instruments, which have wide applicability in nanotechnology development, lithography and metrology. Plasmon optics have potential applications to a broad range of areas where high efficiency and subwavelength sizes are required including the integration of optics with microelectronics, spatial and spectral optical multiplexing, and data storage applications.