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We demonstrate real-time observation of nucleation of the single water nanomeniscus formed via capillary condensation. We directly measure (i) activation time by time-resolved atomic force microscopy and (ii) nucleation rate by statistical analysis of its exponential distribution, which is the experimental evidence that the activation process is stochastic and follows the Poisson statistics. It implies that formation of the water nanomeniscus is triggered by nucleation, which requires activation for producing a nucleus. We also find the dependence of the nucleation rate on the tip-sample distance and temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on our experimental study of spectral diffusion in grown InGaAs single quantum dots. Using a double-tapered tip, near-field scanning optical microscope, we obtain the spectral diffusion resulting from the quantum confined Stark effect of individual quantum dots in a randomly fluctuating electric field. These electric fields come from localized charges at defects in the vicinity of the quantum dots. In particular, we find that the similar-patterned temporal jitter, seen in the spectral diffusion, emits from a quantum dot and is dependent on the excitation density and applied bias voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]