Waveguide for an optical near-field microscope.

摘要

The waveguide comprises a transparent body (13) having a very sharp point at one end and being coated with a first opaque layer (14) such as metal. Said opaque layer (14) carries a layer (15) of an optically transparent material which, in turn, is covered by a second opaque layer (16). The apex of the point is removed so as to expose said transparent body (13) in a first aperture (18) and to expose said transparent layer (15) in a second aperture 17, said first aperture occupying an area below 0,01µm<Sup>2</Sup>.

Light entering the transparent body (13) from its remote end is shone onto an object (4), the reflected light enters said second aperture (17) and is guided to a light detector (19) for further processing.