PhD Thesis Defense: Infrared nanoimaging and nanospectroscopy in liquid environment

CIC nanoGUNE Seminars

Speaker: Divya Virmani
When: 2024/12/20
11:00
Place: CFM auditorium
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PhD Thesis Defense: Infrared nanoimaging and nanospectroscopy in liquid environment

Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) and nanoscale resolved Fourier transform infrared microscopy (nano-FTIR) are powerful, label-free techniques for nanoscale-resolved characterization of various materials. There exists an increasing need for nanoscale-resolved infrared imaging and spectroscopy in liquid environments, particularly for various bio(chemical) and polaritonic sample systems. In this thesis, two instrumental approaches are developed and implemented to enable mid-IR s-SNOM-based nanoimaging and nano-FTIR spectroscopy in liquid environments. The focus of this work is on nanoimaging and nanospectroscopy of plasmon resonances in metal nanostructures and ultra-confined phonon polaritons on h-BN flakes. Polaritons are well known for their ability to enhance light-matter interactions and play a crucial role in highly sensitive optical analysis of (bio)chemical
substances and processes. This work establishes a foundation for future in-situ s-SNOM studies of antenna-enhanced molecular spectroscopy, strong coupling between polaritons and molecular vibrations,and chemical reactions at the bare or functionalized surfaces of polaritonic materials.