Light on the tip of a needle: Plasmonic nanofocusing for spectroscopy on the nanoscale

Reviews and Highlights	Quantum Science	Molecular and Soft-matter	Ultrafast Nano-optics and Nanophotonics	Mineralogy and Geochemistry

Samuel Berweger, Joanna M. Atkin, Robert L. Olmon, and Markus B. Raschke
J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 3, 945 (2012).
DOI PDF

The efficiency of plasmonic nanostructures as optical antennas to concentrate optical fields to the nanoscale has been limited by intrinsically short dephasing times and small absorption cross sections. We discuss a new optical antenna concept based on surface plasmon polariton (SPP) nano- focusing on conical noble metal tips to achieve efficient far- to near-field transformation of light from the micro- to the nanoscale. The spatial separation of the launching of propagating SPPs from their subsequent apex confinement with high energy concentration enables background-free near-field imaging, tip- enhanced Raman scattering, and nonlinear nanospectroscopy. The broad bandwidth and spectral tunability of the nanofocusing mechanism in combination with frequency domain pulse shaping uniquely allow for the spatial confinement of ultrashort laser pulses and few-femtosecond spatio- temporal optical control on the nanoscale. This technique not only extends powerful nonlinear and ultrafast spectroscopies to the nanoscale but can also generate fields of sufficient intensity for electron emission and higher harmonic generation.