SCANNING NEAR-FIELD OPTICAL MICROSCOPE

摘要

PURPOSE: To provide a scanning close field optical microscope of a type of transversely scanning a surface of an object sample by radiating or receiving a light beam having a diameter ofλ/20 at its maximum by a sharply pointed probe tip. CONSTITUTION: The light which is reflected by a sample 11 and/or passes through the sample 11 is detected by a detector 16, and is also processed by a computer 24. Since a distance between a probe tip 13 to radiate the light and the sample 11 of an inspection object is similarlyλ/20, a surface of the sample 11 exists in a range of a close field of the probe tip 13. In this optical microscope, a gap between the probe tip 13 and the sample 11 is filled with a highly opaque liquid having a large negative dielectric constantεso that an infiltrating depth zo of a light wave on which this intensity is defined as a distance reducing to l/e is attenuated to a degree less than 100nm inside of the liquid in the intensity of the light wave radiated or received by the probe tip 13.