Electro-optical Pockels scattering from a single nanocrystal

The electro-optical Pockels response from a single non-centrosymmetric nanocrystal is reported. High sensitivity to the weak electric-field dependent nonlinear scattering is achieved through a dedicated imaging interferometric microscope and the linear dependence of electro-optical signal upon the applied field is checked. Using different incident light polarization states, a priori random spatial orientation of the crystal can be inferred. The electro-optical response from a nanocrystal provides local subwavelength sensor of quasi-static electric fields with potential applications in physics and biology. It also leads to a new sub-wavelength microscopy towards the nanoscale investigation of interesting phenomena such as nanoferroelectricity. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America