Figure 2

The polarization-modulation method resolves nanoparticles and their orientations. Imaging the same area of the sample by both SEM (a) and our BF polarization-modulation method (b), demonstrates the detection of individual nanoparticles by our method. Magnified images of GNRs, shown below, correspond to the locations marked by colored rectangles in the main panel. The calculated GNR orientations are illustrated by short lines, overlaid on top of the magnified GNR images in section (b). Yet another sample spot is sampled by SEM (c), conventional non-modulated BF (d), and polarization-modulated (PMLI) BF (e). To image the same spot by all the three techniques, its location was determined by a special TEM grid. The optical image intensities are normalized, to allow for their mutual comparison. Note the far better resolution and contrast of the PMLI method.