Semiconductor nanowires, by definition, typically have cross-sectional dimensions that can be tuned from 2�200 nm, with lengths spanning from hundreds of nanometres to millimetres. These subwavelength structures represent a new class of semiconductor materials for investigating light generation, propagation, detection, amplification and modulation. After more than a decade of research, nanowires can now be synthesized and assembled with specific compositions, heterojunctions and architectures. This has led to a host of nanowire photonic devices including photodetectors, chemical and gas sensors, waveguides, LEDs, microcavity lasers, solar cells and nonlinear optical converters. A fully integrated photonic platform using nanowire building blocks promises advanced functionalities at dimensions compatible with on-chip technologies. In a recent effort, we have shown that an optical nanoprobe, where a dielectric nanowire is coupled to a tapered optical fiber, can guide and confine visible light into the intracellular region. The nanoprobe allowed us to deliver payloads into the cell with high spatiotemporal precision, illuminate intracellular compartments and detect optical signal from the subcellular regions with high resolution. The intracellular insertion and illumination of the nanoprobe did not induce any significant cytotoxicity. Like the endoscope used in medicine that can directly look and examine the interior of the human body, this minimally-invasive optical nanoprobe could become a powerful tool for nanoscale payload delivery, imaging, and probing in single living cells.

Nanowire photonics and single cell endoscopy

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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