Optical Antennas: Plasmonic Nickel Nanoantennas (Small 16/2011)

The cover shows the near-field amplitude image of dipolar plasmon modes in nickel nanodisks. Each disk exhibits two bright spots oscillating along the polarization direction of the incident light, revealing the enhanced near-field at the rims of the nickel disks. The image was recorded by a scattering-type scanning near-field microscope (s-SNOM) within a study of the optical and magnetic properties of nickel nanostructures. An interesting dual functionality is observed: a strong magnetic behavior is identified together with a clear plasmonic response, which could be a useful building block for future biotechnological and optoelectronic applications, where active control of the functional components is required. For more information, please read the Full Paper “Plasmonic Nickel Nanoantennas” by R. Hillenbrand and co-workers, beginning on page 2341.