Definition
Scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) is a microscopic technique for nanostructure investigation that achieves sub-wavelength spatial resolution by exploiting short-ranged interactions between a sharply pointed probe and the sample mediated by evanescent waves. In general, the resolution of SNOM is determined by the lateral probe dimensions and the probe-sample distance. Images are obtained by raster-scanning the probe with respect to the sample surface corresponding to other scanning-probe techniques. As in conventional optical microscopy, the contrast mechanism can be combined with a broad range of spectroscopic techniques to study different sample properties, such as chemical structure and composition, local stress, electromagnetic field distributions, and the dynamics of excited states.
Introduction
Optical microscopy forms the basis of most of the natural sciences. In particular, life sciences have benefited...
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Hartschuh, A. (2016). Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy. In: Bhushan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Nanotechnology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9780-1_283
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9780-1_283
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