Nonoptically probing near-field microscopy for the observation of biological living specimens

We present the observation of living specimens with subwavelength resolutio n by using the nonoptically probing near-field microscopy we have developed recently. In the near-field microscope, the optical field distributions ne ar the specimens are recorded as the surface topography of a photosensitive film, and the topographical distributions are readout with an atomic-force microscopy. Since the near-field microscope does not require the scanning of a probe tip for illumination or detection or scattering of light, it is possible to observe moving biological specimens and fast phenomena. We demo nstrate the observation of a moving paramecium and euglena gracilis with su bwavelength resolution. The observation of the nucleus inside a euglena cel l was also demonstrated. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.