Contrast and resolution enhancement of a near-field optical microscope by using a modulation technique.
A new design of a tunneling near-field optical microscope (TNOM) combined with an atomic force microscope (AFM) is presented. This design can be used to generate three different images of the sample's surface: a non-contact (tapping mode) AFM image, a conventional TNOM and an image of a modulation signal of the conventional TNOM, which we call AC-TNOM. The images are obtained simultaneously, using a single light source. It is shown that the AC-TNOM has better resolution ( approximately 200A) and contrast compared to conventional TNOM ( approximately 400A).
Flaxer
Eli
E
School of Chemistry, The Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 69978 Tel-Aviv, Israel. flaxer@post.tau.ac.il
Palachi
Eldad
E
D015350:Contrast Sensitivity; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000295:instrumentation*; D016252:Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling / Q000295:instrumentation*