Abstract

The photon-scanning tunneling microscope is the photon analog to the electron-scanning tunneling microscope. It uses the evanescent field due to the total internal reflection of a light beam in a prism, modulated by a sample attached to the prism. The exponential decay of the evanescent field is characterized by the penetration depth d_p and depends on the angle of incidence θ, the wavelength, and the polarization of the incident beam. The 1/e decay lengths range from 150 to 265 nm as deduced from the expression of the electric-field intensity in the rarer medium for θ = π/2. If we place another optically transparent medium near the surface, frustrated total reflection occurs. It is shown theoretically and experimentally that, if we choose an appropriate angle of incidence θ(θ ≠ π/2) and change the index of refraction of one of the media, the decay length of the electric field can be extremely small, so that images with an improved resolution can be produced.

© 1991 Optical Society of America

Computation of the field diffracted by a local surface defect: application to tip–sample interaction in the photon scanning tunneling microscope

J. C. Weeber, F. de Fornel, and J. P. Goudonnet
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 13(5) 944-951 (1996)

Analysis of image formation with a photon scanning tunneling microscope

F. de Fornel, P. M. Adam, L. Salomon, J. P. Goudonnet, A. Sentenac, R. Carminati, and J.-J. Greffet
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 13(1) 35-45 (1996)

Imaging of test quartz gratings with a photon scanning tunneling microscope. Experiment and theory

J. P. Goudonnet, E. Bourillot, P. M. Adam, F. de Fornel, L. Salomon, P. Vincent, M. Nevière, and T. L. Ferrell
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 12(8) 1749-1764 (1995)

Analysis of photon-scanning tunneling microscope images of inhomogeneous samples: determination of the local refractive index of channel waveguides

E. Bourillot, F. de Fornel, J. P. Goudonnet, D. Persegol, A. Kevorkian, and D. Delacourt
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 12(1) 95-106 (1995)

Reconstruction of corrugated dielectric surfaces with a model of a photon scanning tunneling microscope: influence of the tip on the near field

A. Madrazo and M. Nieto-Vesperinas
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 14(3) 618-628 (1997)