title: Optical image contrast enhancement in near-field optics induced by water condensation.
abstract: In surface science, water adsorption on hydrophilic samples is usually invoked, addressing their nanoscale experimental effects in scanning probe microscopy, especially when water condensates between tip and sample. Here we study by means of a numerical hybrid method the effect of water bridge formation in near field imaging. We show how this nanometric water neck plays an important role not only in the optical image, producing a high contrast at hydrophilic patches, but also in the tip-sample distance control. This work contributes with a new methodology able to retrieve the original application of SNOM, using it as an instrument to study the optical properties of matter overcoming the diffraction limit. It extends the application of SNOM to study the hydrophilic character of polymeric and biological samples, taking advantage of ubiquitous effect of humidity when operating in ambient condition.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física de Materiales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain; Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: maysoun.douas@uam.es.
authors.forename: Maysoun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Douas
authors.forename: Manuel I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Marqués
authors.forename: Pedro A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Serena
keywords: FDTD; Hydrophilic characterization; Lattice gas; Nanophotonics; Optofluidics; SNOM; Water condensation