MATCHED asymptotic expansions are used to examine the stress and pore pressure fields near the tip of a plane strain shear (mode II) crack propagating on an impermeable plane in a linear elastic diffusive solid. For propagation speeds V that are large compared with c/I, where c is the diffusivity and I is the cracklength, boundary layers are required at the crack-tip and on the line ahead of th...

A novel tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy setup with longitudinal field excitation generated by a plasmonic lens is investigated. A symmetry-breaking structure plasmonic lens that is expected to realize a strong longitudinal electric field focus has been designed to generate suitable excitation for enhancement in a tip antenna. The focusing performance of the plasmonic lens is theoretically simul...

The subdiffraction optical resolution that can be achieved using near-field optical microscopy has the potential to permit new approaches and insights into subcellular function and molecular dynamics. Despite the potential of this technology, it has been difficult to apply to cellular samples. One significant problem is that sample thickness causes the optical information to be comprised of a c...

We compare single- and double-sided excitation methods of adiabatic surface plasmon polariton (SPP) wave superfocusing for scattering-type metallic near-field scanning optical microscopy (s-NSOM). Using the results of full 3D finite difference time domain analyses, the differences in field enhancement factors are explained and reveal the mode selectivity of a conical NSOM tip for adiabatic SPP ...

Analysis has been performed on fracture initiation near a crack in a brittle material with strength described by Weibull statistics. This nonlocal fracture model allows for a direct correlation between near crack-tip stresses and failure. Predictions are made for both the toughness and average fracture initiation angle of a crack under mixed-mode loading. This is pertinent for composites and is...

Near-field Raman spectroscopy with high spatial resolution is used to study singlewalled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) within dense samples. A sharp, laser irradiated metal tip acts as a near-field excitation source causing an enhanced Raman signal within close proximity of the tip. We present optical images of different Raman modes with a spatial resolution better than 15 nm. Local spectroscopy allo...

Constant-height scanning is demonstrated to improve near-field microscopy by eliminating artifacts connected with topography scanning, hence, to image the inherent electromagnetic contrast. Microwaves are chosen for this study because the long wavelength eliminates coherence artifacts, owing to a scale separation of wave and image frequencies. Measured amplitude and phase images of conductive f...

We demonstrate the design, fabrication and characterization of a near-field plasmonic nanofocusing probe with a hybrid tip-plus-aperture design. By combining template stripping with focused ion beam lithography, a variety of aperture-based near-field probes can be fabricated with high optical performance. In particular, the combination of large transmission through a C-shaped aperture aligned t...