Sensitivity of Interferometric Cross-Polarization Microscopy for Nanoparticle Detection in the Near-Infrared

We address the sensitivity of Interferometric Cross-Polarization Microscopy by comparing scattering and absorption by spherical 10 nm nanoparticles through a combination of modeling and experiment. We show that orthogonality of light in the two polarization branches of Cross-Polarization Microscopy ensures that only light that has interacted with a nanoparticle is interferometrically enhanced. As a result background-free shot noise-limited detection is achieved for sub-μW optical powers at the sample. Our modeling in particular shows that in the near-infrared regime, above the plasmon resonance frequency of spherical nanoparticles, the cross-polarization approach is several orders of magnitude more sensitive than conventional extinction based detection. This enhanced near-infrared sensitivity for spherical nanoparticles is promising for applications requiring low absorption and low power imaging of nanoparticles in cells.