Setup and application of scanning near-field optical microscopy

The research on the setup and application of scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) performed in our laboratory is reviewed in this report. We have constructed a versatile low temperature scanning near-field optical microscope with the capability of near-field imaging and spectroscopy, operating at liquid nitrogen temperature. A special designed coaxial double lens was used to introduce the illumination beam through a 200 mum fiber; the detected optical signal was transmitted via a fiber tip to an avalanche photon detector. The performance test shows the stability of the new design. The shear force image and optical image of a standard sample are shown. A system of SNOM working at room temperature and atmosphere was used to characterize semiconductors and bio-molecular samples. It revealed the unique features of semiconductor microdisks in the near-field that is significantly different from that of far-field. The effects of different geographic microstructures on the near-field light distribution of InGaP, GaN, and InGaN multi-quantum-well microdisk were observed.