[OPTICAL REVIEW Vol. 6, No. 3 (1999) 245-248]
Reducing Background Light Interaction in Near-Field Optical Microscopy Using Lateral and Vertical Probe-Dithering*
Kenji FUKUZAWA,1 Kazuhiko TAKAHASHI2 and Yuriko TANAKA
NTT Integrated Information and Energy Systems Laboratories, 3-9-11, Midori-cho, Musashino, Tokyo, 180-8585 Japan
(Received December 7, 1998; Accepeted March 5, 1999)
We investigate the effectiveness of differential detection, which is a combination of probe-dithering and synchronous detection, in discriminating near-field light interaction from background light interaction in apertureless near-field optical microscopy (NSOM). The lateral differential NSOM with a photocantilever is more effective than the vertical differential detection, which does not always provide sufficient discrimination. The V-dithering-based lateral differential detection provides apertureless NSOM that can image the optical coupling between sample and probe dipoles, which is an interaction through near-field light.
Key words : near-field optical microscopy, differential detection, probe dithering