Electrostatic actuator integrated optical near-field probe with bow-tie antenna for high transmission efficiency

In this paper, we report on the design and fabrication of an optical near-field probe in which an electrostatic actuator and a bow-tie antenna for the enhancement and modulation of an optical near-field are integrated. The bow-tie antenna consists of two triangular electrodes opposed with narrow a gap. The gap spacing of the bow-tie antenna can be adjusted by the electrostatic actuator, which offers both the small spot size of the optical near-field and the high transmission efficiency. The actuation of the fabricated probe is examined, and the optical modulation of an incident laser light is demonstrated.