STM Light Emission and I(V) study of single gold nanoantenna

Abstract Hight-speed optical nanoemitters are of importance for on-chip optical data processing. A tunnel junctions can be a base for such light emitters, however such structures suffer from low quantum efficiency. One of the ways to improve efficiency of tunneling electron energy to photon generation conversion is the increase of the local density of optical states by using of optical nanoantennas. In this work, we study optoelectronic properties of single gold nanodisc with high spatial resolution. We show nonuniform distribution of electromagnetic near-fields of nanodisk, which is consistent with nanoantenna optical modes. And we demonstrate direct correlation between nanoantenna optical states and features on current-voltage characteristics of tunnel junction between metal tip and nanodisk.