New Scanning nearfield Microscopy method bAsed on Radio-frequency Trap and LANthanide nanoprobe for LIGHT matter interaction.

Project Information

SMART-LANLIGHT

Grant agreement ID: 705616

DOI

10.3030/705616

Project closed

EC signature date 4 March 2016

Start date 1 September 2016

End date 31 August 2018

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 173 076,00

EU contribution

€ 173 076,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITE D'AIX MARSEILLE
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SMART-LANLIGHT (New Scanning nearfield Microscopy method bAsed on Radio-frequency Trap and LANthanide nanoprobe for LIGHT matter interaction.)

Reporting period: 2016-09-01 to 2018-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Probing optical near field interactions provides valuable information on the surface and topology of nanoobjects and it is very important for characterizing and developing the future optical systems. However measuring these interactions is realized with the use of an extremely sharp tip. These tips are then approached very close to the nanometer scale object of interest or a surface and the changes of the scattered light are registered in function of the tip position. This technique works well and allows to measure very precise interaction of light matter at the nanoscale, however it is very difficult to work with a tip and the presence of the whole body of the tip in the measurement remains a fundamental problem.
The SmartLanlight project aims at removing and replacing the tip by a nanometer scale object in levitation. To reach that goal we use electrical fields in order to manipulate and levitate the nanoparticle. Manipulation of nanoparticles with electric fields is only emerging in nanosciences. Two main objectives were identified in this project. The first was to master this levitation and manipulation technique with nanometric objects. The second was to manipulate the particle in levitation and to probe its optical properties when scanning a photonic structure. Besides these two objectives, we also worked on the printing of nanoparticles in levitation in air on a receiver substrate. This is actually important for the development of future all optical systems and quantum nanotechnologies.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

We developed a fully automated setup allowing the levitation of different nano-objects, their manipulation over a long distance, and their optical characterization. To achieve these objectives, we developed planar Paul trap electrodes that we mounted on an piezometer mounted on a robotic arm able to transfer the electrode and the particle to the focal plane of a microscope objective. This particle can be further trasnfered from the trap to a receiver substrate. With that project we were able to develop a better understanding of the process of levitation with radiofrequency electrical fields.
The main results obtain during this project are:
- the possibility of measuring the optical spectrum of a single levitating object.
- the possibility of driving a single nano-object with electrical fields in order to draw an arbitrary trajectory with high resolution and high speed.
- the possibility to shoot (transfer) the nano-object on a receiver substrate.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The main results obtained in this project correspond to the manipulation of nano-objects with only electrical electrodes in the 3 dimensions of space. This allowed us to generate 3D graphics with a nanometric resolution. With this technique we envision the possibility of creating 3D images without the need of any screen. The principle is based on the possibility of displacing the object over a specific trajectory and use the persistence of light vision by the eye to see the image.

Free-space graphics with electrically driven particles in levitation