title: Cloaked near-field scanning optical microscope tip for noninvasive near-field imaging.
abstract: Near-field imaging is a well-established technique in biomedical measurements, since closer to the detail of interest it is possible to resolve subwavelength details otherwise unresolved by regular lenses. A near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) tip may indeed overcome the resolution limits of far-field optics, but its proximity inherently perturbs the measurement. Here, we apply the recent concept of a "cloaked sensor" to an NSOM device in collection mode, showing theoretically how a proper plasmonic cover applied to an NSOM tip may drastically improve its overall measurement capabilities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alù
authors.forename: Nader
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Engheta