A simple reproducible technique for producing sub-micrometre fibre-optic probes for near-field optical microscopy and chemical sensors

Abstract

Near-field optical techniques enable the optical diffraction limit to be surpassed, thus allowing objects to be resolved with a spatial resolution of better than lambda /50. Many of these techniques involve the scanning of probes with sub-micrometre tips or apertures in close proximity (<20 nm) to the object surface in order to generate images of sub-wavelength resolution. We present a simple one-step method for producing optical probes with excellent reproducibility for applications in super-resolution microscopy and near-field chemical sensing. In addition, we demonstrate via experiment the light delivery and collection ability of probes manufactured using this technique.