Title: Near field optical microscopy: a brief review

Authors: A.L. Lereu; A. Passian; Ph. Dumas

Addresses: CINaM CNRS – Campus de Luminy, 13288 Marseille, France. ' Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA; Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN 37996-1200, USA. ' CINaM CNRS – Campus de Luminy, 13288 Marseille, France

Abstract: Near Field Optical Microscopy (NSOM) has evolved into a mature member of the family of scanning probe microscopy. In this article, we briefly go over the principle of NSOM, its breakthroughs and setbacks. We will describe some of the most commonly used NSOM modalities and conclude with the recent advances based on optical nanoantennas. We will then highlight the potential of this high-resolution optical microscopy for chemical and biological applications as well as for materials sciences.

Keywords: near field optical microscopy; optical nanoantennas; plasmons; nanotechnology; scanning probe microscopy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2012.045353

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2012 Vol.9 No.3/4/5/6/7, pp.488 - 501

Published online: 06 Feb 2012 *

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