Microfabricated silicon dioxide cantilever with subwavelength aperture.
We have developed a microfabricated SiO2 cantilever with subwavelength aperture for scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), to overcome the disadvantages of conventional optical fibre probes such as low reproducibility and low optical throughput. The microcantilever, which has a SiO2 cantilever and an aperture tip near the end of the cantilever, is fabricated in a reproducible batch process. The circular aperture with a diameter of 100-150 nm is formed by a focused ion-beam technique. Incident light is directly focused on the aperture from the rear side of the cantilever using a focusing objective, and high optical throughput (10(-2) to 10(-3)) is obtained. The microcantilever can be operated as a SNOM probe in contact mode or in dynamic mode.
Mitsuoka
Y
Y
Seiko Instruments Inc., 563 Takatsuka-Shinden, Matsudo-shi, Chiba 270-2222, Japan. mitsuoka@tk.sii.co.jp
Niwa
T
T
Ichihara
S
S
Kato
K
K
Muramatsu
H
H
Nakajima
K
K
Shikida
M
M
Sato
K
K