Nano-optical image and probe in a scanning near-field optical microscope

We study a nanometer-sized optical probe and image in a scanning near-field optical microscope SNOM.. We demonstrated the potential to observe 5-nm wide optical patterns using the SNOM. The probe profile was measured by using a knife-edge method and a modulated transfer function evaluation method. An aluminum covered and pipet-pulled fiber probe used here has two optical probes, one which has a large diameter of 350 nm and one which has a small diameter of around 10 nm. q1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.