High-sensitivity, high-spatial-resolution imaging of organic monolayers on platinum with second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy using radially polarized beam excitation is investigated. A tightly focused, radially polarized beam forms a longitudinal electric field at the focus. The longitudinal field is enhanced at a metal surface and increases the intensity of SHG from the molecules on the metal surface. The SHG signal from a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on a platinum surface excited by a radially polarized beam is approximately 3.7 times higher than that obtained with a linearly polarized beam. Improved spatial resolution is also demonstrated using a SAM patterned by electron beam lithography.
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Hashimoto et al. (2015) studied this question.