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Scientists have developed materials that are so tiny that they are not only indistinguishable when packed, but they also don't reflect enough light to show fine details, such as colors, with even the most powerful optical microscopes. Carbon nanotubes look grayish under an optical microscope. It's hard for scientists to study the unique properties of individual pieces of nanomaterials because they can't distinguish fine details.
The researchers from UC Riverside describe a new technology that uses lamp light to create a nanometer-sized spot. It uses the light at the end of a silver nanowire to reveal previously invisible details, like colors.
Scientists will be able to see nanomaterials in enough detail to make them more useful in electronics and other applications because of the advancement in color-imaging resolution to an unprecedented 6 nanometer level.
The tool was developed by the team of professors in the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering. In previous work, the technique has been used to observe the vibration of bonds at 1 nanometer spatial resolution without a focusing lens.
In the new report, the tool to measure signals across the whole visible wavelength range has been modified to allow it to be used to render the color and depict the electronic band structures of the object. The tool squeezes the light from a lamp into a silver nanowire, where light is carried by the wave of free electrons at the silver surface.
The silver nanowire tip has a 5 nanometer radius, which is similar to the light beam from a flashlight. The beam shape and color is recorded when the tip passes over an object.
"You know how to get the desired spraying pattern by changing the thumb position, and likewise, in the experiment, we read the light pattern to retrieve the details of the object blocking the 5 nm-," said Liu.
A tiny ring shape is formed when the light is focused into a strontium strontium strontium strontium strontium strontium strontium strontium strontium strontium strontium The researchers can make absorption and scattering images with colors by recording two spectrums for each piece of the probe. The first color photograph of the grayish carbon nanotubes will be sent to them, and an individual carbon nanotubes will have the chance to exhibit its unique color.
The atomically smooth sharp-tip silver nanowire is critical for the image. There would be intense stray light in the background that would ruin the effort.
The researchers think that the new technology can be used to make uniform nanomaterials with consistent properties for use in electronic devices. The new full-color technique could be used to improve understanding of catalysis, quantum optics, and nanoelectronics.
The research was done by the four people who were involved, including a PhD student at UCR Riverside who was part of the project. The researchers included UCR students, as well as professors Bryan Wong and Kaili Jiang.
The paper uses a white light source to illuminate carbon nanotubes.
Nature Communications has more information on 6 nm super-resolution optical transmission and scattering of carbon nanotubes using a nanometer-scale white light source. There is a DOI of 10.1038/s41467-021-27216-5.
Nature Communications is a journal.
A novel color photography using a high-efficiency probe can super-focus white light into a 6-nanometer spot.
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