Chihiro MORIGUCHI, Akihiro OHTA, Chikara EGAMI, Yoshimasa KAWATA, Susumu TERAKAWA¹, Masaaki TSUCHIMORI² and Osamu WATANABE²

Faculty of Engineering, Shizuoka University, Johoku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 432-8581, Japan
¹Photon Medical Research Center, School of Medicine, Hamamatsu University, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-3192, Japan
²Toyota Central Research and Development Laboratories, Inc., Nagakute, Aichi 480-1192, Japan

(Received December 1, 2005; Accepted May 12, 2006)

We present an analysis of the properties of an imaging based on a near-field recording technique in comparison with simulation results. In the system, the optical field distributions localized near the specimens are recorded as the surface topographic distributions of a photosensitive film. It is possible to observe both soft and moving specimens, because the system does not require a scanning probe to obtain the observed image. The imaging properties are evaluated using fine structures of paramecium, and we demonstrate that it is possible to observe minute differences of refractive indices.

Key words: near-field optical microscope, azo polymer, biotechnology, near-field recording, photosensitive film