Abstract

We have developed a scanning near-field optical microscope with an optically trapped metallic particle that has a small diameter compared to the wavelength of visible light. In this microscope we employed spot illumination to enhance the intensity of light scattered from a probe particle so we could reduce the diameter of the probe particle to 40 nm. We detected slight irregularities of the surface of the cover glass near 10-nm depth. Also, we observed gold colloidal particles on the surface of the cover glass.

© 1997 Optical Society of America

Scanning near-field optical images of ordered polystyrene particle layers in transmission and luminescence excitation modes

T. Fujimura, K. Edamatsu, T. Itoh, R. Shimada, A. Imada, T. Koda, N. Chiba, H. Muramatsu, and T. Ataka
Opt. Lett. 22(8) 489-491 (1997)

Use of a scanning near-field optical microscope architecture to study fluorescence and energy transfer near a metal

Thierry Pagnot, Dominique Barchiesi, Daniel Van Labeke, and Christian Pieralli
Opt. Lett. 22(2) 120-122 (1997)

Image enhancement in near-field scanning optical microscopy with laser-trapped metallic particles

Min Gu and Pu Chun Ke
Opt. Lett. 24(2) 74-76 (1999)

Near-field optical microscope with a multiheight scanning–imaging mode

Hiroshi Hatano, Yasushi Inouye, and Satoshi Kawata
Opt. Lett. 22(20) 1532-1534 (1997)

Observation of a single-beam gradient-force optical trap for dielectric particles in air

Ryota Omori, Tamiki Kobayashi, and Atsuyuki Suzuki
Opt. Lett. 22(11) 816-818 (1997)