IMR: Acquisition of a Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscope System with Spectroscopy for Research and Education

这项提案寻求资金，以获得具有光谱能力的Nanonics MultiView 2000近场扫描光学显微镜(NSOM)系统。NSOM将使涉及光子晶体、纳米级波导、荧光纳米颗粒、量子点、DNA纳米代码、可生物降解纤维纳米复合材料、防污涂层、电致发光有机电子、分子尺度器件和异质结构半导体器件的新研究方向成为可能。纳米电子仪器在功能上非常灵活，可以在纳米尺度上访问各种光学现象。近场或共焦光学图像可以与纳米级的地形图像同时获取。可以用光学显微镜(透射式或反射式)在远场收集/激发光，也可以用纳米口径探头在近场收集/激发光。将来自探头或光学显微镜的光耦合到光谱仪允许关联光谱数据(荧光、电致发光、光致发光等)。以及地形数据。NSOM将被纳入工程学院和农业与生命科学学院的课程。该仪器还将作为开发处理光波导的动手模块的基础；通过各种CCMR推广方案，该模块将向K-12教师提供，用于他们的课堂科学课程，并供年龄较大的学生作为背景信息，以了解NSOM的运作。将纳米尺度的光学现象与纳米尺度的地形信息联系起来的能力将开辟新的研究领域，并有助于解决以前无法解决的当前问题。

This proposal seeks funding to acquire a Nanonics MultiView 2000 near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) system with spectroscopic capability. The NSOM will enable new research directions dealing with photonic crystals, nanoscale waveguides, fluorescent nanoparticles, quantum dots, DNA-based nanobarcodes, biodegradable fiber nanocomposites, anti-fouling coatings, electroluminescent organic electronics, molecular scale devices, and heterostructure semiconducting devices. The Nanonics instrument is extremely flexible in its functionality, making accessible a variety of optical phenomena at the nanoscale. Near-field or confocal optical images can be acquired simultaneously with nanoscale topographical images. Light can be collected/excited both in the far-field with an optical microscope (in transmission or reflection) and in the near-field with the nanoscale aperture probe. Coupling the light from the probe or the optical microscope to a spectrometer allows correlation of spectral data (fluorescence, electroluminescence, photoluminescence, etc.) with topographical data. The NSOM will be incorporated into courses both in the College of Engineering and in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The instrument will also be the basis for developing a hands-on module dealing with the waveguiding of light; through a variety of CCMR outreach programs, this module will be made available to K-12 teachers for use in their classroom science classes and, for older students, as background information for understanding the operation of the NSOM. The ability to correlate nanoscale optical phenomena with nanoscale topographical information will open up new areas of inquiry and aid in solving current problems that could not be addressed previously.