title: Fluorescence imaging with a laser trapping scanning near-field optical microscope.
abstract: We investigated fluorescence imaging using a near-field scanning optical microscope which uses a laser-stabilized gold nanoparticle as a near-field probe. This microscope is suitable for observations of biological specimens in aqueous solutions because the probe particle is held by a noncontact force exerted by a laser beam. Theoretical calculations based on Mie scattering theory are presented to evaluate the near-field enhancement by a gold particle of 40 nm diameter. We also present fluorescence images of a single fluorescent bead and discuss the near-field contribution to the fluorescence image in this type of microscope.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Osaka University, Suita, Japan. sugiura@ap.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugiura
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawata
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okada