Compact stand-alone near-field optical microscope combined with force detection

Abstract

We present a compact stand-alone near-field optical microscope combined with force detection in which manufactured atomic force microscope (AFM) microcantilevers are used for both optical and force detection. Because of the stand-alone design, the combination allows a great variety of operation modes, including the scanning tunneling optical microscope (STOM), and possibly the reflection scanning near-field optical microscope modes. The first images obtained in the AFM and the STOM mode are presented. A polarization study is carried out to confirm the optical nature of the detected signal and to discuss possible artifacts.