PHOTOREACTIVE THIN FILM PROCESSING METHOD AND PHOTOREACTIVE THIN FILM PROCESSING APPARATUS

摘要

A photoreactive thin film processing method is provided that can process a photoreactive thin film having a desired structure and physical characteristics by feeding back the light incidence angle, light intensity, light irradiation time, state of the polarized light, and various other characteristics observed via the probe. In the method for processing a photoreactive thin film 1 disposed directly on or in close proximity to the surface of the prism 3 by using a composite surface electromagnetic field formed by the interference of two evanescent waves produced by the total reflection of two laser light beams on the surface of the prism 3, the structure or physical properties are controlled and the photoreactive thin film 1 is processed by disposing a probe 4 of a scanning probe microscope on the surface of the photoreactive thin film 1, observing on site the spatial structure, electrical characteristics, optical characteristics, electroconductive characteristics, and other structural or physical properties of the thin film 1 undergoing processing in a region at or below the half-wavelength of the light before, after, or during processing, and controlling the laser light on the basis of observed signals from the scanning probe microscope.