Paper 2025: Applications of ultrafast nano-spectroscopy and nano-imaging with tip-based microscopy

Applications of ultrafast nano-spectroscopy and nano-imaging with tip-based microscopy

REVIEWS AND HIGHLIGHTSQUANTUM SCIENCEMOLECULAR AND SOFT-MATTERULTRAFAST NANO-OPTICS AND NANOPHOTONICSMINERALOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY

Zhichen Zhao, Vasily Kravtsov, Zerui Wang, Zhou Zhou, Linyuan Dou, Di Huang, Zhanshan Wang, Xinbin Cheng, Markus B. Raschke, and Tao Jiang
eLight 5, 1 (2025).
DOI PDF

Innovation in microscopy has often been critical in advancing both fundamental science and technological progress. Notably, the evolution of ultrafast near-field optical nano-spectroscopy and nano-imaging has unlocked the ability to image at spatial scales from nanometers to ångströms and temporal scales from nanoseconds to femtoseconds. This approach revealed a plethora of fascinating light-matter states and quantum phenomena, including various species of polaritons, quantum phases, and complex many-body effects. This review focuses on the working principles and state-of-the-art development of ultrafast tip-enhanced and near-field microscopy, integrating diverse optical pump-probe methods across the terahertz (THz) to ultraviolet (UV) spectral ranges. It highlights their utility in examining a broad range of materials, including two-dimensional (2D), organic molecular, and hybrid materials. The review concludes with a spatio-spectral-temporal comparison of ultrafast nano-imaging techniques, both within already well-defined domains, and offering an outlook on future developments of ultrafast tip-based microscopy and their potential to address a wider range of materials.