Near-field scanning optical microscopy nanoprobes

Abstract

Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is a powerful method for the optical imaging of surfaces with a resolution down to the nanometer scale. By focusing an external electromagnetic field to the subwavelength aperture or apex of a sharp tip, the diffraction limit is avoided and a near-field spot with a size on the order of the aperture or tip diameter can be created. This point light source is used for scanning a sample surface and recording the signal emitted from the small surface area that interacts with the near field of the probe. In tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, such a tip configuration can be used as well to record a full spectrum at each image point, from which chemically specific spectral images of the surface can be extracted. In either case, the contrast and resolution of the images depend critically on the properties of the NSOM probe used in the experiment. In this review, an overview of eligible tip properties and different approaches for tailoring specifically engineered NSOM probes is given from a fabrication point of view.

Keywords

• nanofabrication
• nano-optics
• near-field scanning optical microscopy
• scanning probe microscopy
• tip-enhanced raman spectroscopy