Dresden 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 12: Scanning probe microscopy: light matter interaction at atomic scales
O 12.5: Vortrag
Montag, 9. März 2026, 16:00–16:15, HSZ/0403
Continuous-wave all-optical microscopy at the atomic scale — •Valentin Bergbauer1, Felix Schiegl1, Svenja Nerreter1, Valentin Giessibl1, Fabian Sandner1, Franz J. Giessibl1, Yaroslav A. Gerasimenko1, Tom Siday2, Markus A. Huber1, and Rupert Huber1 — 1Department of Physics and Regensburg Center for Ultrafast Nanoscopy (RUN), University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany — 2School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, U.K.
Exploring matter at the most fundamental level demands optical microscopy with ever-improving spatial resolution. By confining light to the apex of a sharp metallic tip, scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) circumvents the diffraction limit, though its spatial resolution is still limited by the mesoscopic tip shape, inhibiting atomic resolution. Here, we observe atomically confined optical signals with Ångström-scale lateral modulations using continuous-wave mid-infrared radiation. These signals, characterized by a picometric vertical decay and a distinct optical phase shift, are consistent with emission from lightwave-driven tunnelling currents, a mechanism recently discovered using intense THz pulses. Observing near-field optical tunnelling emission (NOTE) under continuous-wave illumination is surprising, as strong-field effects such as coherent electron driving typically require ultrafast or free-electron lasers. Demonstrating the accessibility of this tunneling-mediated contrast mechanism with standard optical setups paves the way towards routine optical imaging with atomic-scale resolution.
Keywords: Near-field microscopy; NOTE; Atomic-scale spatial resolution; Mid-infrared; Optical microscopy