Development of Novel Nano-Imaging Instruments to Probe Materials Under Extreme Conditions

Two recent nano-imaging instrument developments are enabling the study of materials under previously inaccessible extreme regimes, pushing the frontiers of nano-optics further.

In the first extreme, studying quantum effects in solids using quantum light probes at the nanoscale remains largely unexplored. Imaging with quantum light can enable direct probing of entanglement in solids and can allow for improved signal-to-noise images over classical light. I will discuss the development of the quantum light scanning near-field optical microscope (q-SNOM) and show how it is used to image single propagating wave-guide modes in van der Waals materials with nanometer and femtosecond resolutions (Dapolito, M. et al. Quantum Light Nano-Imaging. https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.28987v4 (2026)).

At another extreme, two-dimensional electron systems subject to strong magnetic fields are expected to exhibit quantized Hall conductivity, chiral edge currents, and distinctive collective modes referred to as magnetoexcitons. I will discuss the development of the magneto scanning near-field optical microscope (m-SNOM) system and show how it has been used to visualize propagating magnetoexction polaritons at their native length scales and map their magnetic-field-tunable dispersion up to 7 Tesla in near-charge-neutral graphene (Dapolito et al. Nat. Nanotechnol. 18, 1409–1415 (2023)).

Michael will be at MPSD on Thursday and Friday. If you would like to meet Michael in person during the visit, please let Michael Fechner know.