Scanning near-field ellipsometric microscope-imaging ellipsometry with a lateral resolution in nanometer range

An apertureless optical near-field scanning microscope system has been crea ted by combining a commercially available atomic force microscope and an el lipsometer without any prior changes in design of the respective devices. I n preliminary experiments, an optical resolution of about 20 nm (lambda /32 ) has been achieved using the combined microscope. The intensity of the mea sured optical signal has been found to be a periodic function of the thickn ess of the sample. Moreover, the period of this function is dependent upon the local optical properties of the sample material. (C) 2001 American Inst itute of Physics.