PHOTON SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE IN COMBINATION WITH A FORCE MICROSCOPE

The simultaneous operation of a photon scanning tunneling microscope w ith an atomic force microscope is presented. The use of standard atomi c force silicon nitride cantilevers as near-field optical probes offer s the possibility to combine the two methods. Vertical forces and tors ion are detected simultaneously with the optical near field, which all ows a comparison between topography and the optical signal. Images of an optical thin film (indium tin oxide) and a Langmuir-Blodgett layer (pentacosa diynoic acid) show absorption contrast with a lateral resol ution of about 30 nm (based on edge steepness), which is well below th e diffraction limit.