Near-field scattering techniques: Novel instrumentation and results from time and spatially resolved investigations of soft matter systems

Recently the investigation of non-stationary systems exhibiting spatial and dynamic heterogeneities has propelled the development of innovative optical techniques providing the missing link between the scattering and imaging approaches. The novel techniques are characterized by the fact that the scattered radiation is measured close to the sample. They allow to recover information on the structure and dynamics of the system under investigation equivalent to that available with scattering techniques, with the great advantage that they simultaneously allow to achieve a local characterization of the sample, which is lost in traditional scattering measurements.