Nano-optics of two-dimensional materials via synchrotron infrared ultramicroscopy

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a standard analytical modality ready to approach multidisciplinary scientific questions. Among several advantages of this spectral tool, it is important to highlight its sensitivity to natural vibrational signatures of materials, enabling label free access to chemical composition and coherent vibrations in materials in general.
Despite the power of the technique, the advance of scientific questions at sub-micron scales has challenged IR analysis due to the intrinsic diHraction limit of light. Then, to overcome this limitation, novel techniques exploring near-field optics allowed IR to approach quantum scale phenomena in materials as they operate with few-nanometers lateral resolution and high sensitivity to the local optical properties of materials. That is the case for the scattering Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (s-SNOM), a technique that combines atomic force and IR microscopies to achieve nano-resolution for spectral imaging. The reach of the s-SNOM for broadband analysis is then extended with the use of synchrotron storage rings as they provide excellent spectral irradiance throughout the whole IR spectral range.
In this talk, fundamentals of s-SNOM are presented in a multidisciplinary narrative to inspire the overall condensed matter community. Moreover, this talk brings a panorama of applications of synchrotron- and laser-based s-SNOM used to access nano-optics of a variety of two-dimensional materials. These applications emphasize the protagonist role of synchrotron s-SNOM in the field of nanophotonics and invite the community to explore this open-user facility to approach alike scientific questions.