MICROFABRICATION OF NEAR-FIELD OPTICAL PROBES

Citation
Agt. Ruiter et al., MICROFABRICATION OF NEAR-FIELD OPTICAL PROBES, Journal of vacuum science & technology. B, Microelectronics and nanometer structures processing, measurement and phenomena, 14(2), 1996, pp. 597-601
Citations number
24
Categorie Soggetti
Physics, Applied
ISSN journal
10711023
Volume
14
Issue
2
Year of publication
1996
Pages
597 - 601
Database
ISI
SICI code
1071-1023(1996)14:2<597:MONOP>2.0.ZU;2-R
Abstract
Near-field optical microscopy generally uses a tapered optical fiber, which is metal coated, to form a sub-wavelength sized light source. He re, a technique for the fabrication of a new type of probe is describe d. The new design is based on atomic force microscope probes and consi sts of a silicon nitride cantilever with a solid transparent conical t ip. The probes are made using micromechanical techniques, which allow batch fabrication of the probes. A near-field scanning optical microsc ope system was built to test the probes. This system features force de tection by a beam deflection technique and subsequent force feedback t ogether with a conventional optical microscope. A major advantage of t he apparatus is the ease at which images are obtained. Results on a te st sample show that an optical resolution of 300 nm can be obtained to gether with a simultaneous height image. (C) 1996 American Vacuum Soci ety.