Correlating AFM Probe Morphology to Image Resolution for Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube Tips

We report local-field-enhanced light emission from silicon nanocrystals close to a film of nanoporous gold. We resolve photoluminescence as the gold−Si nanocrystal separation distance is varied between 0 and 20 nm and observe a fourfold luminescence intensity enhancement concomitant with increases in the coupled silicon nanocrystal/nanoporous gold absorbance cross section and radiative decay rate. A detailed analysis of the luminescence data indicated a local-field-enhanced quantum efficiency of 58% for the Si nanocrystals coupled to the nanoporous gold layer