The stumbling block of employing Raman imaging in nanoscience and nanotechnology is the diffraction-limited spatial resolution. Several approaches have been employed to improve the spatial resolution, among which aperture and apertureless near-field Raman techniques are the most frequently used. In this letter, we report a new approach in doing near-field Raman imaging with spatial resolution of about 80 nm, by trapping and scanning a polystyrene microsphere over the sample surface in water. We have used this technique to resolve PMOS transistors with SiGe source drain stressors with poly-Si gates, as well as gold nanopatterns with excellent reproducibility.

© 2008 Optical Society of America

1. D. W. Pohl, W. Denk, and M. Lanz, "Optical stethoscopy: Image recording with resolution l/20," Appl. Phys. Lett. 44, 651 - 653 (1984). [CrossRef]
2. B. Hecht, H. Heinzelmann, and D. W. Pohl, "Combined aperture SNOM/PSTM: best of both worlds?," Ultramicroscopy 57, 228 - 234 (1995). [CrossRef]
3. J. Kim, J. H. Kim, K. B. Song, S. Q. Lee, E. K. Kim, S. E. Choi, Y. Lee, and K. H. Park, "Near-field imaging of surface plasmon on Au nano-dots fabricated by scanning probe lithography," J. Microsc. 209, 236 - 239 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
4. F. Zenhausern, Y. Martin, and H. K. Wickramasinghe, "Scanning interferometric apertureless microscopy: Optical imaging at 10 Angstrom resolution," Science 269, 1083 - 1085 (1995). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
5. D. H. Pan, N. Klymyshyn, D. H. Hu, and H. P. Lu, "Tip-enhanced near-field Raman spectroscopy probing single dye-sensitized TiO2 nanoparticles," Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 093121 (2006). [CrossRef]
6. H. G. Frey, C. Bolwien, A. Brandenburg, R. Ros, and D. Anselmetti, "Optimized apertureless optical near-field probes with 15 nm optical resolution," Nanotechnology 17, 3105 - 3110 (2006). [CrossRef]
7. D. P. Tsai, A. Othonos, M. Moskovits, and D. Uttamchandani, "Raman spectroscopy using a fiber optic probe with subwavelength aperture," Appl. Phys. Lett. 64, 1768 - 1770 (1994). [CrossRef]
8. C. L. Jahncke, M. A. Paesler, and H. D. Hallen, "Raman imaging with near-field scanning optical microscopy," Appl. Phys. Lett. 67, 2483 - 2485 (1995). [CrossRef]
9. J. Grausem, B. Humbert, M. Spajer, D. Courjon, A. Burneau, and J. Oswalt, "Near-field Raman spectroscopy," J. Raman Specstrosc. 30, 833 - 840 (1999). [CrossRef]
10. B. Hecht, B. Sick, U. P. Wild, V. Deckert, R. Zenobi, O. J. F. Martin, and D. W. Pohl, "Scanning near-field optical microscopy with aperture probes: Fundamentals and applications," J. Chem. Phys. 112, 7761 - 7774 (2000). [CrossRef]
11. M. S. Anderson, "Locally enhanced Raman spectroscopy with an atomic force microscope," Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 3130 - 3132 (2000). [CrossRef]
12. W. X. Sun and Z. X. Shen, "Near-field scanning Raman microscopy using apertureless probes," J. Raman Spectrosc. 34, 668 - 676 (2003). [CrossRef]
13. N. Anderson, A. Hartschuh, and L. Novotny, "Near-field Raman microscopy," Materials Today 8, 50 - 54 (2005).
14. Y. Saito, M. Motohashi, N. Hayazawa, M. Iyoki, and S. Kawata, "Nanoscale characterization of strained silicon by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscope in reflection mode," Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 143109 (2006). [CrossRef]
15. N. Anderson, A. Bouhelier, and L. Novotny, "Near-field photonics: tip-enhanced microscopy and spectroscopy on the nanoscale," J. Opt. A 8, S227 - S233 (2006). [CrossRef]
16. D. Richards, R. G. Milner, F. Huang, and F. Festy, "Tip-enhanced Raman microscopy: practicalities and limitations," J. Raman Spectrosc. 34, 663 - 667 (2003). [CrossRef]
17. N. Lee, R. D. Hartschuh, D. Mehtani, A. Kisliuk, J. F. Maguire, M. Green, M. D. Foster, and A. P. Sokolov, "High constrast scanning nano-Raman spectroscopy of silicon," J. Raman Spectrosc. 38, 789 - 796 (2007). [CrossRef]
18. R. Ossikovski, Q. Nguyen, and G. Picardi, "Simple model for the polarization effects in tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy," Phys. Rev. B 75, 045412 (2007). [CrossRef]
19. N. Hayazawa, M. Motohashi, Y. Saito, H. Ishitobi, A. Ono, T. Ichimura, P. Verma, and S. Kawata, "Visualization of localized strain of a crystalline thin layer at the nanoscale by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and microscopy," J. Raman Spectrosc. 38, 684 - 696 (2007). [CrossRef]
20. N. Lee, R. D. Hartschuh, D. Mehtani, A. Kisliuk, J. F. Maguire, M. Green, M. D. Foster, and A. P. Sokolov, "High constrast scanning nano-Raman spectroscopy of silicon," J. Raman Spectrosc. 38, 789 - 796 (2007). [CrossRef]
21. S. H. Christiansen, M. Becker, S. Fahlbusch, J. Michler, V. Sivakov, G. Andra, and R. Geiger, "Signal enhancement in nano-Raman spectroscopy by gold caps on silicon nanowires obtained by vapour-liquid-solid growth," Nanotechnology 18, 035503 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
22. M. Becker, V. Sivakov, G. Andra, R. Geiger, J. Schreiber, S. Hoffmann, J. Michler, A. P. Milenin, P. Werner, and S. H. Christiansen, "The SERS and TERS effects obtained by gold droplets on top of Si nanowires," Nano Lett. 7, 75 - 80 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
23. A. Ashkin, "Applications of laser radiation pressure," Science 210, 1081 - 1088 (1980). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
24. A. Ashkin, "Optical trapping and manipulation of neutral particles using lasers," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 4853 - 4860 (1997). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
25. X. Li, Z. G. Chen, A. Taflove, and V. Backman, "Optical analysis of nanoparticles via enhanced backscattering facilitated by 3-D photonic nanojets," Opt. Express 13, 526 - 533 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
26. S. Lecler, Y. Takakura, and P. Meyrueis, "Properties of a three-dimensional photonic jet," Opt. Lett. 30, 2641 - 2643 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
27. A. L. Birkbeck, S. Zlatanovic, S. C. Esener, and M. Ozkan, "Laser-tweezer-controlled solid immersion microscopy in microfluidic systems," Opt. Lett. 30, 2712 - 2714 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
28. K. J. Yi, H. Wang, Y. F. Lu, and Z. Y. Yang, "Enhanced Raman scattering by self-assembled silica spherical microparticles," J. Appl. Phys. 101, 063528 (2007). [CrossRef]
29. G. Veshapidze, M. L. Trachy, M. H. Shah, and B. D. DePaola, "Reducing the uncertainty in laser beam size measurement with a scanning edge method," Appl. Opt. 45, 8197 - 8199 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
30. E. Bonera, M. Fanciulli, and D. N. Batchelder, "Raman spectroscopy for a micrometric and tensorial analysis of stress in silicon," Appl. Phys. Lett. 81, 3377 - 3379 (2002). [CrossRef]
31. E. Bonera, M. Fanciulli, and D. N. Batchelder, "Combining high resolution and tensorial analysis in Raman stress measurements of silicon," J. Appl. Phys. 94, 2729 - 2740 (2003). [CrossRef]
32. P. R. Chidambaram, C. Bowen, S. Chakravarthi, C. Machala, and R. Wise, "Fundamentals of silicon material properties for successful exploitation of strain engineering in modern CMOS manufacturing," IEEE Trans. Electron Dev. 53, 944 - 964 (2006). [CrossRef]
33. D. J. Paul, "Si/SiGe heterostructures: from material and physics to devices and circuits," Semicond. Sci. Technol. 19, R75 - R108 (2004). [CrossRef]
34. S. L. Wu, Y. M. Lin, S. J. Chang, S. C. Lu, P. S. Chen, and C. W. Liu, "Enhanced CMOS performances using substrate strained-SiGe and mechanical strained-Si technology," IEEE Electron Device Lett. 27, 46 - 48 (2006). [CrossRef]
35. I. D. Wolf, H. E. Maes, and S. K. Jones, "Stress measurements in silicon devices through Raman spectroscopy: Bridging the gap between theory and experiment," J. Appl. Phys. 79, 7148 - 7156 (1996). [CrossRef]
36. S. Nakashima, T. Yamamoto, A. Ogura, K. Uejima, and T. Yamamoto, "Characterization of Si/GexSi1-x structures by micro-Raman imaging," Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 2533 - 2535 (2004). [CrossRef]
37. T. Mitani, S. Nakashima, H. Okumura, and A. Ogura, "Depth profiling of strain and defects in Si/Si1-xGex/Si heterostructures by micro-Raman imaging," J. Appl. Phys. 100, 073511 (2006). [CrossRef]
38. E. Anastassakis and E. Liarokapis, "Polycrystalline Si under strain: Elastic and lattice-dynamical considerations,"J. Appl. Phys. 62, 3346 - 3352 (1987). [CrossRef]
39. V. Senez, A. Armigliato, I. D. Wolf, G. Carnevale, R. Balboni, S. Frabboni, and A. Benedetti, "Strain determination in silicon microstructures by combined convergent beam electron diffraction, process simulation, and micro-Raman spectroscopy," J. Appl. Phys. 94, 5574 - 5583 (2003). [CrossRef]
40. H. H. Liu, X. F. Duan, X. Y. Qi, Q. X. Xu, H. O. Li, and H. Qian, "Nanoscale strain analysis of strained-Si metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors by large angle convergent-beam electron diffraction," Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 263513 (2006). [CrossRef]

Appl. Opt.

• G. Veshapidze, M. L. Trachy, M. H. Shah, and B. D. DePaola, "Reducing the uncertainty in laser beam size measurement with a scanning edge method," Appl. Opt. 45, 8197 - 8199 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Appl. Phys. Lett.

• E. Bonera, M. Fanciulli, and D. N. Batchelder, "Raman spectroscopy for a micrometric and tensorial analysis of stress in silicon," Appl. Phys. Lett. 81, 3377 - 3379 (2002). [CrossRef]
• S. Nakashima, T. Yamamoto, A. Ogura, K. Uejima, and T. Yamamoto, "Characterization of Si/GexSi1-x structures by micro-Raman imaging," Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 2533 - 2535 (2004). [CrossRef]
• D. W. Pohl, W. Denk, and M. Lanz, "Optical stethoscopy: Image recording with resolution l/20," Appl. Phys. Lett. 44, 651 - 653 (1984). [CrossRef]
• D. H. Pan, N. Klymyshyn, D. H. Hu, and H. P. Lu, "Tip-enhanced near-field Raman spectroscopy probing single dye-sensitized TiO2 nanoparticles," Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 093121 (2006). [CrossRef]
• D. P. Tsai, A. Othonos, M. Moskovits, and D. Uttamchandani, "Raman spectroscopy using a fiber optic probe with subwavelength aperture," Appl. Phys. Lett. 64, 1768 - 1770 (1994). [CrossRef]
• C. L. Jahncke, M. A. Paesler, and H. D. Hallen, "Raman imaging with near-field scanning optical microscopy," Appl. Phys. Lett. 67, 2483 - 2485 (1995). [CrossRef]
• Y. Saito, M. Motohashi, N. Hayazawa, M. Iyoki, and S. Kawata, "Nanoscale characterization of strained silicon by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscope in reflection mode," Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 143109 (2006). [CrossRef]
• M. S. Anderson, "Locally enhanced Raman spectroscopy with an atomic force microscope," Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 3130 - 3132 (2000). [CrossRef]
• H. H. Liu, X. F. Duan, X. Y. Qi, Q. X. Xu, H. O. Li, and H. Qian, "Nanoscale strain analysis of strained-Si metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors by large angle convergent-beam electron diffraction," Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 263513 (2006). [CrossRef]

IEEE Electron Device Lett.

• S. L. Wu, Y. M. Lin, S. J. Chang, S. C. Lu, P. S. Chen, and C. W. Liu, "Enhanced CMOS performances using substrate strained-SiGe and mechanical strained-Si technology," IEEE Electron Device Lett. 27, 46 - 48 (2006). [CrossRef]

IEEE Trans. Electron Dev.

• P. R. Chidambaram, C. Bowen, S. Chakravarthi, C. Machala, and R. Wise, "Fundamentals of silicon material properties for successful exploitation of strain engineering in modern CMOS manufacturing," IEEE Trans. Electron Dev. 53, 944 - 964 (2006). [CrossRef]

J. Appl. Phys.

• I. D. Wolf, H. E. Maes, and S. K. Jones, "Stress measurements in silicon devices through Raman spectroscopy: Bridging the gap between theory and experiment," J. Appl. Phys. 79, 7148 - 7156 (1996). [CrossRef]
• T. Mitani, S. Nakashima, H. Okumura, and A. Ogura, "Depth profiling of strain and defects in Si/Si1-xGex/Si heterostructures by micro-Raman imaging," J. Appl. Phys. 100, 073511 (2006). [CrossRef]
• E. Anastassakis and E. Liarokapis, "Polycrystalline Si under strain: Elastic and lattice-dynamical considerations,"J. Appl. Phys. 62, 3346 - 3352 (1987). [CrossRef]
• V. Senez, A. Armigliato, I. D. Wolf, G. Carnevale, R. Balboni, S. Frabboni, and A. Benedetti, "Strain determination in silicon microstructures by combined convergent beam electron diffraction, process simulation, and micro-Raman spectroscopy," J. Appl. Phys. 94, 5574 - 5583 (2003). [CrossRef]
• E. Bonera, M. Fanciulli, and D. N. Batchelder, "Combining high resolution and tensorial analysis in Raman stress measurements of silicon," J. Appl. Phys. 94, 2729 - 2740 (2003). [CrossRef]
• K. J. Yi, H. Wang, Y. F. Lu, and Z. Y. Yang, "Enhanced Raman scattering by self-assembled silica spherical microparticles," J. Appl. Phys. 101, 063528 (2007). [CrossRef]

J. Chem. Phys.

• B. Hecht, B. Sick, U. P. Wild, V. Deckert, R. Zenobi, O. J. F. Martin, and D. W. Pohl, "Scanning near-field optical microscopy with aperture probes: Fundamentals and applications," J. Chem. Phys. 112, 7761 - 7774 (2000). [CrossRef]

J. Microsc.

• J. Kim, J. H. Kim, K. B. Song, S. Q. Lee, E. K. Kim, S. E. Choi, Y. Lee, and K. H. Park, "Near-field imaging of surface plasmon on Au nano-dots fabricated by scanning probe lithography," J. Microsc. 209, 236 - 239 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

J. Opt. A

• N. Anderson, A. Bouhelier, and L. Novotny, "Near-field photonics: tip-enhanced microscopy and spectroscopy on the nanoscale," J. Opt. A 8, S227 - S233 (2006). [CrossRef]

J. Raman Specstrosc.

• J. Grausem, B. Humbert, M. Spajer, D. Courjon, A. Burneau, and J. Oswalt, "Near-field Raman spectroscopy," J. Raman Specstrosc. 30, 833 - 840 (1999). [CrossRef]

J. Raman Spectrosc.

• D. Richards, R. G. Milner, F. Huang, and F. Festy, "Tip-enhanced Raman microscopy: practicalities and limitations," J. Raman Spectrosc. 34, 663 - 667 (2003). [CrossRef]
• N. Lee, R. D. Hartschuh, D. Mehtani, A. Kisliuk, J. F. Maguire, M. Green, M. D. Foster, and A. P. Sokolov, "High constrast scanning nano-Raman spectroscopy of silicon," J. Raman Spectrosc. 38, 789 - 796 (2007). [CrossRef]
• W. X. Sun and Z. X. Shen, "Near-field scanning Raman microscopy using apertureless probes," J. Raman Spectrosc. 34, 668 - 676 (2003). [CrossRef]
• N. Hayazawa, M. Motohashi, Y. Saito, H. Ishitobi, A. Ono, T. Ichimura, P. Verma, and S. Kawata, "Visualization of localized strain of a crystalline thin layer at the nanoscale by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and microscopy," J. Raman Spectrosc. 38, 684 - 696 (2007). [CrossRef]
• N. Lee, R. D. Hartschuh, D. Mehtani, A. Kisliuk, J. F. Maguire, M. Green, M. D. Foster, and A. P. Sokolov, "High constrast scanning nano-Raman spectroscopy of silicon," J. Raman Spectrosc. 38, 789 - 796 (2007). [CrossRef]

Materials Today

• N. Anderson, A. Hartschuh, and L. Novotny, "Near-field Raman microscopy," Materials Today 8, 50 - 54 (2005).

Nano Lett.

• M. Becker, V. Sivakov, G. Andra, R. Geiger, J. Schreiber, S. Hoffmann, J. Michler, A. P. Milenin, P. Werner, and S. H. Christiansen, "The SERS and TERS effects obtained by gold droplets on top of Si nanowires," Nano Lett. 7, 75 - 80 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Nanotechnology

• S. H. Christiansen, M. Becker, S. Fahlbusch, J. Michler, V. Sivakov, G. Andra, and R. Geiger, "Signal enhancement in nano-Raman spectroscopy by gold caps on silicon nanowires obtained by vapour-liquid-solid growth," Nanotechnology 18, 035503 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• H. G. Frey, C. Bolwien, A. Brandenburg, R. Ros, and D. Anselmetti, "Optimized apertureless optical near-field probes with 15 nm optical resolution," Nanotechnology 17, 3105 - 3110 (2006). [CrossRef]

Opt. Express

• X. Li, Z. G. Chen, A. Taflove, and V. Backman, "Optical analysis of nanoparticles via enhanced backscattering facilitated by 3-D photonic nanojets," Opt. Express 13, 526 - 533 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Opt. Lett.

• S. Lecler, Y. Takakura, and P. Meyrueis, "Properties of a three-dimensional photonic jet," Opt. Lett. 30, 2641 - 2643 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• A. L. Birkbeck, S. Zlatanovic, S. C. Esener, and M. Ozkan, "Laser-tweezer-controlled solid immersion microscopy in microfluidic systems," Opt. Lett. 30, 2712 - 2714 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Phys. Rev. B

• R. Ossikovski, Q. Nguyen, and G. Picardi, "Simple model for the polarization effects in tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy," Phys. Rev. B 75, 045412 (2007). [CrossRef]

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA

• A. Ashkin, "Optical trapping and manipulation of neutral particles using lasers," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 4853 - 4860 (1997). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Science

• A. Ashkin, "Applications of laser radiation pressure," Science 210, 1081 - 1088 (1980). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• F. Zenhausern, Y. Martin, and H. K. Wickramasinghe, "Scanning interferometric apertureless microscopy: Optical imaging at 10 Angstrom resolution," Science 269, 1083 - 1085 (1995). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Semicond. Sci. Technol.

• D. J. Paul, "Si/SiGe heterostructures: from material and physics to devices and circuits," Semicond. Sci. Technol. 19, R75 - R108 (2004). [CrossRef]

Ultramicroscopy

• B. Hecht, H. Heinzelmann, and D. W. Pohl, "Combined aperture SNOM/PSTM: best of both worlds?," Ultramicroscopy 57, 228 - 234 (1995). [CrossRef]

Click here to see a list of articles that cite this paper

Related Journal Articles

• Lens-scanning Raman microspectroscopy system using compact disc optical pickup technology (OE)
• Multiple-trap laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy for simultaneous monitoring of the biological dynamics of multiple individual cells (OL)
• Mechanochemistry of single red blood cells monitored using Raman tweezers (BOE)
• Serial Raman spectroscopy of particles trapped on a waveguide (OE)
• Measurement of Raman spectra of single airborne absorbing particles trapped by a single laser beam (OL)

Related Conference Papers

• Tip Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) Instrumentation for Probing Linearized DNA for Cancer-Specific Lesions: Challenges and Outcomes
• Tip Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) Instrumentation for Probing Linearized DNA for Cancer-Specific Lesions: Challenges and Outcomes
• Tip Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) Instrumentation for Probing Linearized DNA for Cancer-Specific Lesions: Challenges and Outcomes
• Tip Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) Instrumentation for Probing Linearized DNA for Cancer-Specific Lesions: Challenges and Outcomes
• Monitoring of germination dynamics of multiple individual bacterial spores by multiple-trap Raman tweezers and differential interference contrast microscopy