Robust Tipless Positioning Device for Near-Field Investigations: Press and Roll Scan (PROscan).

Scanning probe microscopes scan and manipulate a sharp tip in the immediate vicinity of a sample surface. The limited bandwidth of the feedback mechanism used for stabilizing the separation between the tip and the sample makes the fragile nanoscopic tip very susceptible to mechanical instabilities. We propose, demonstrate, and characterize an alternative device based on bulging a thin substrate against a second substrate and rolling them with respect to each other. We showcase the power of this method by placing gold nanoparticles and semiconductor quantum dots on the two opposite substrates and positioning them with nanometer precision to enhance the fluorescence intensity and emission rate. Furthermore, we exhibit the passive mechanical stability of the system over more than 1 h. Our design concept finds applications in a variety of other scientific and technological contexts, where nanoscopic features have to be positioned and kept near contact with each other.