A scanning microscope employing an optically trapped stylus

Summary form only given. The resolving power of a microscope was shown in 1873 to be limited by diffraction to /spl lambda//2NA, where /spl lambda/ is the wavelength of the radiation used and NA is the numerical aperture of the lens. In recent years scanning probe schemes, such as scanning force microscopes (SFM) and atomic force microscopes (AFM), have been proposed and subsequently implemented to overcome this limit. We have constructed a scanning imaging system that uses an optically trapped particle as a stylus to measure surface features of microscopic structures. In contrast to systems previously implemented, the position of the particle in the trap is monitored using the light backscattered from the particle.