Abstract

A macroscopic self-consistent model for external-refraction near-field microscopy is extended to include the consideration of arbitrary fiber tips and the image formation of surface structures. An appropriate regularization procedure is developed to produce a stable solution of the self-consistent equation. This equation is generalized to treat the presence of a thin-layer medium with a subwavelength structure on the sample surface. Numerical results for two trapezium-shaped fiber tips are presented. This modeling confirms that the sharper tip ensures better imaging properties of the microscope but that the lateral resolution is limited by a fraction of the wavelength because of the microscopic sizes of the fiber tips.

© 1994 Optical Society of America

Macroscopic self-consistent model for external-reflection near-field microscopy

S. Berntsen, E. Bozhevolnaya, and S. Bozhevolnyi
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 10(5) 878-885 (1993)

Self-consistent model for photon scanning tunneling microscopy: implications for image formation and light scattering near a phase-conjugating mirror

Sergey I. Bozhevolnyi, Brian Vohnsen, Elena A. Bozhevolnaya, and Svend Berntsen
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 13(12) 2381-2392 (1996)

Theoretical model for phase conjugation of optical near fields

Sergey I. Bozhevolnyi, Elena A. Bozhevolnaya, and Svend Berntsen
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 12(12) 2645-2654 (1995)

External-reflection near-field optical microscope with cross-polarized detection

S. I. Bozhevolnyi, M. Xiao, and O. Keller
Appl. Opt. 33(5) 876-880 (1994)

Polarization-resolved imaging with a reflection near-field optical microscope

Sergey I. Bozhevolnyi, Mufei Xiao, and Jørn M. Hvam
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 16(11) 2649-2657 (1999)