Numerical simulations of global approach for photon scanning tunneling microscopy: coupling of finite-element and boundary integral methods

An accurate global model is proposed for a two-dimensional probe-sample system of photon scanning tunneling microscopy in near-field optics. A coupling of a finite-element method in the inhomogeneous sample and a boundary integral method on the artificial boundary of the truncated domain is developed. Numerical experiments are included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method and to show the features of wave propagation in photon scanning tunneling microscopy. (c) 2008 Optical Society of America.