Bolometric Superconducting Optical Nanoscopy (BOSON)

Superconducting transition-edge sensors are renowned for their extraordinary photon sensitivity and energy resolution, finding applications spanning quantum information, astronomy, and nanophotonics. Here, we report the development of bolometric superconducting optical nanoscopy (BOSON), a novel platform that integrates bolometric detection at the superconducting transition edges with near-field optical techniques. BOSON enables the mapping of photoinduced changes in superconductivity with unprecedented spatial resolution and photon sensitivity. By incorporating BOSON with low-dimensional materials, we achieved polariton imaging at nanowatt excitation levels—at least 4 orders of magnitude lower than the power typically required in prior near-field nanoscopy experiments. Our findings highlight the potential for BOSON to advance scanning-probe-based optical platforms to enable the detection of photons, polaritons, and Cooper pair dynamics at the nanoscale. This paves the way for quantum sensing applications using single-polariton detection and can offer deeper insights into quasiparticle dynamics.