NEAR FIELD LIGHT MICROSCOPE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for determining detailed positional relationships among individual biological molecules by causing only a particular biological molecule to emit light in molecule units and provide a near field light microscope. SOLUTION: A microscopic rod having the property of allowing propagation of near field light is used for converging near field light and made to function as a light converging element for converging and irradiation of the near field light and also as an inducing element for causing emission from fluorescent molecules; the rod is brought close to a sample. Laser beams 3 emitted from laser beam sources 1, 2 are projected onto a prism 10 via a polarizing plate 4 so that the impinging laser beams are totally reflected by the lower surface of the prism 10. Near field light is produced near the outside of a boundary plane 11 and a light converging part 30 converges the produced near field light to apply the light from the tip 31 of the light converging part toward the sample placed on a placement table 50. The fluorescence of the fluorescent molecules made to emit light by the near field light applied is received by a light receiving part 40.