Regensburg 2004 – wissenschaftliches Programm

Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Downloads | Hilfe

SYLS: Life Sciences on the Nanometer Scale - Physics Meets Biology

SYLS 3: Symposium "Life Sciences on the Nanometer Scale - Physics Meets Biology"

SYLS 3.28: Poster

Mittwoch, 10. März 2004, 16:00–18:30, B

Electrolytic fabrication of SNOM aperture-sensors — •Carola Haumann, Christoph Pelargus, Robert Ros, and Dario Anselmetti — Experimental Biophysics and Applied Nanosciences, Faculty of Physics, Bielefeld University, Universitaetsstrasse 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany

The resolution achievable with scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) is determined by the optical quality of the near-field sensors. We present a method to fabricate reproducibly aperture probes with diameters in the sub 100nm range by solid state electrolysis. The method, originally invented by A. Bouhelier et al., was further developed by integrating a STM distance control in order to form nanoapertures with sizes from 50nm to 100nm.

The electrolytic cell consists of the probe tip as the first electrode, a thin platelet of a solid electrolyte, and a silver counterelectrode evaporated onto the electrolyte. The electrolyte consists of amorphous silver metaphosphate-iodide, because it has to fulfil some conditions like high conductivity, transparency and ease of fabrication. As a probe we use tube-etched optical fibers coated with a silver layer of about 500nm.

Fluorescently labeled DNA and antibodies were measured by using a home-built SNOM integrated into an inverted optical microscope.