Nanophotopolymerization Triggered by the Enhanced Optical Near Field of Metallic Nanoparticles

International audienceA novel approach is reported for imaging and quantifying both the depth and the strength of the optical near-field, of a single colloidal metal nanoparticle, associated with localized surface plasmons. It will be emphasized that this technique relies on a nanoscale molecular molding of the confined electromagnetic field of metal colloids, irradiated at their resonance, by a photo-activated polymer, which enabled us to directly image the dipolar profile of the near-field distribution with an unprecedented resolution, better than 10 nm. Moreover, the approach used enabled one to quantify the near-field enhancement factor. This approach has overcome all the difficulties faced by scanning probe methodologies to reproduce the form of the near-field of the localized surface plasmons and provides a new way to quantify its magnitude. Furthermore, this approach leads to the production of polymer/metal hybrid nano-systems of new optical properties