Scanning near-field cathodoluminescence microscopy on indented MgO crystal

The cathodoluminescence (CL) emission arising from the indentation of an Mg O single crystal cleaved along (100) faces is investigated by scanning near -field cathodoluminescence microscopy (SNCLM). This technique is performed with a hybrid instrument that is a combination of a scanning force microsco pe, a scanning near-field optical microscope and a scanning electron micros cope, The interest of this instrument is to allow one to obtain near-field CL images, the resolution of which (similar to 100 nm) is at least an order of magnitude better than the resolution obtained with a classical CL imagi ng system(similar to 1 mu m) using a conventional scanning electron microsc ope, On the indented MgO, the CL emission appears mainly localized in the d eformed regions, especially in the slip bands created just around the inden tation, These slip bands are revealed only because of the high resolution o f our hybrid system. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.