Simultaneous characterization of near-field nanoplasmonic structure and function using super-resolved far-field optics: Solving the Inverse Problem

在化学系化学测量与成像项目的支持下，加州大学洛杉矶分校的Shimon Weiss教授和Daniel Neuhauser教授正在纳米尺度上研究光与物质的相互作用。具体来说，这项研究探索了发光纳米粒子或分子如何与下面的金属纳米结构相互作用。所获得的知识可以在细胞、高速集成电路和量子信息科学的高分辨率成像中找到应用。Weiss和Neuhauser教授与研究生、本科生和高中生密切合作，为他们提供多学科的培训机会。他们还计划将他们的软件广泛地提供给其他从事超分辨率成像工作的科学家。Weiss和Neuhauser教授将超分辨率技术、宽视场单光子探测器和多尺度模拟结合起来，以了解点发射体与等离子体纳米结构的耦合强度。利用随机光涨落成像（SOFI）中量子点闪烁统计量对电场强度的依赖性，提出了一种新的探测技术，可同时解析远低于衍射极限的等离子体结构和场强。一个额外的极化激发和发射层被用来帮助理解近距离的发射器-金属耦合/散射强度。然后，他们计划实施该方法来解决逆问题，其中可以同时测量结构和功能，而无需对底层系统的任何先验知识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professors Shimon Weiss and Daniel Neuhauser at University of California-Los Angeles are studying light-matter interaction at the nanoscale. Specifically, the study explores how light-emitting nanoparticles or molecules interact with metal nanostructures underneath. The gained knowledge could find applications in high resolution imaging in cells, high-speed integrated circuits, and quantum information science. Professors Weiss and Neuhauser work closely with graduate, undergraduate and high school students by providing them multidisciplinary training opportunities. They also plan to make their software broadly available to other scientists who are working on super resolution imaging. Professors Weiss and Neuhauser merge super-resolution techniques, wide-field single photon detector, and multiscale simulations to understand the coupling strength of point emitters to plasmonic nanostructures. A novel probing technology is used to simultaneously resolve plasmonic structure and field strengths well below the diffraction limit, exploiting the dependence of the blinking statistics of quantum dots on the electric field strength for Stochastic Optical Fluctuation Imaging (SOFI). An additional layer of polarized excitation and emission is used to help understand emitter-metal coupling/scattering strengths in close proximity. They then plan to implement the method to solve the inverse problem, where structure and function can be simultaneously measured without any a priori knowledge of the underlying system.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.