Radiation and collection characteristics of four different near-field optical-fiber probes, namely, three uncoated probes and an aluminum-coated small-aperture probe, are investigated and compared. Their radiation properties are characterized by observation of light-induced topography changes in a photosensitive film illuminated with the probes, and it is confirmed that the radiated optical field is unambiguously confined only for the coated probe. Near-field optical imaging of a standing evanescent-wave pattern is used to compare the detection characteristics of the probes, and it is concluded that, for the imaging of optical-field intensity distributions containing predominantly evanescent-wave components, a sharp uncoated tip is the probe of choice. Complementary results obtained with optical phase-conjugation experiments with the uncoated probes are discussed in relation to the probe characterization.

© 1999 Optical Society of America

[Optical Society of America ]

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Citation lists with outbound citation links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Article level metrics are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

Related Journal Articles

• Optical Contrast in Apertureless Microscopy (AO)
• Fluorescence lifetime of a molecule near a corrugated interface: application to near-field microscopy (JOSAA)
• Numerical Analysis of the Transmission Efficiency of Heat-Drawn and Chemically Etched Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopes (AO)
• Photon Scanning-Tunneling Microscopy of Unstained Mammalian Cells and Chromosomes (AO)
• Characterization of antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide devices by scanning near-field optical microscopy (JOSAA)

Related Conference Papers

• Femtosecond High-Brightness Nanometer-Sized Coherent Light Source
• Fast-Scanning Two-Photon Fluorescence Imaging Using a Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Two-Dimensional Scanning Mirror
• Arbitrary Focal-Field Polarization Control for Optical Microscopy
• Plasmon-Resonant Field Enhancement Metallic Tip-Substrate Systems
• Arbitrary Focal-Field Polarization Control for Optical Microscopy