PROBE FOR AN OPTICAL NEAR FIELD MICROSCOPE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME

摘要

This invention relates to a probe for an optical near field microscope, said probe comprising a probe tip which is formed on a self-supporting carrier and to a method for producing the same. One object of this invention is to provide a probe for an optical near field microscope and a method of producing the same, whereby the probe has a probe tip with a very small aperture diameter and thus can be reproducibly manufactured in a simple, advantageously controllable method. This object is solved with regard to the probe by a generic probe which is characterised in that the probe tip is embodied as a complete structure which is applied to a planar surface of the carrier. The object is solved with regard to a method for the manufacture of a probe for an optical near field microscope according to the invention by a method with the steps: a transparent layer is applied to a substrate, the thickness of the transparent layer corresponding to at least the height of the probe tip; the transparent layer is masked in at least one region of the probe tip; the transparent layer is etched, forming the probe tip.