Nanometer-scale dielectric imaging of semiconductor nanoparticles: Size-dependent dipolar coupling and contrast reversal

Scattering-type apertureless near-field microscopy (ANSOM) provides high-resolution dielectric maps of indium gallium nitride (InGaN) semiconductor nanoparticles at visible (633 nm) wavelengths. A specific size-dependent contrast reversal is observed in the ANSOM images of InGaN nanoparticles grown on a layer of gallium nitride (GaN). Model calculations demonstrate that the observed contrast reversal is the result of the competition between the tip-particle versus tip-substrate dipolar coupling.