Fig. 11. Use of spasers for stimulated emission depletion (STED) super-resolution imaging.
a Emission spectrum of the gain-medium dye (a fluorescein derivative) (red dashed line) and the spasing spectrum (solid black peak). An electron micrograph of the spasers is shown in the inset. b Optical image of radiating spaser aggregates under a confocal microscope. c The same as in b but obtained using STED super-resolution microscopy. d Confocal optical image of separated single spasers. e The same as in d but obtained using STED super-resolution microscopy. Adapted from ref. 39.