Direct mapping of the far and near field optical emission of nano-sized tapered glass fibers by an integrated SNOM SF system

We describe a versatile scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) integ rated with a shear force (SF) sample probe separation controller. The syste m works with special tapered optical fibers as the probing element. These f ibers are fabricated by using a technique proposed earlier by Ohtsu et al. [M. Ohtsu, Optoelectronic devices and technology, 10 (2) (1995) 147]. We de scribe here the SNOM system we developed giving details on the fabrication of the fibers. Then we show the first direct bi-dimensional mapping of the optical emission of these tips as measured by our system in an original 2 t ip configuration mode. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.