Cl. Jahncke et al., NANO-RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY AND IMAGING WITH NEAR-FIELD SCANNING OPTICAL MICROSCOPE, Journal of Raman spectroscopy, 27(8), 1996, pp. 579-586
Raman spectroscopy was performed using a near-field scanning optical m
icroscope. This avoids the diffraction limit inherent in conventional
optical microscopy techniques involving far-field optical components,
and allows volumes significantly smaller than the cube of the waveleng
th to be investigated. The small sample volume coupled with the light-
starved nature of the Raman effect itself makes such nano-Raman studie
s difficult. A near-held Raman microscope is described and results sho
wing near-field effects in an investigation of Rb-doped KTP are presen
ted. An image taken within a Raman feature demonstrates that nano-Rama
n imaging is indeed possible if the near-field instrument has consider
able long-term stability, and that several unique aspects of the near-
field data recommend this approach.