Applications of apertured photon scanning tunnelling microscopy (APSTM)

By using a metallically coated fiber probe with a well defined aperture at the end as in near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) good quality near-field images can be obtained. This modification of photon scanning tunnelling microscopy (PSTM) will be referred to as apertured photon scanning tunnelling microscopy (APSTM). Applications of APSTM to determine the local index of refraction, to image optical defects on a glass surface, to image the surface of a live lung cell membrane, the physical structure of a Bragg fiber grating, the fluorescence images of rhodamine molecules, and the subwavelength interference patterns generated by the coherent superposition of optical surface waves are presented. Results of imaging the curing process of the self-assembled polymer films by APSTM clearly show the bonding and relaxation of the molecules as well.