NEAR-FIELD MICROSCOPY AND NEAR-FIELD OPTICS

The early eighties have experienced a revolution in the perception of physical phenomena. This revolution is the birth of a new generation of imaging systems based on the detection of non-radiating fields. The near field optical microscope is the latest of this family. Like its prestigious brothers, the STM and the AFM, it allows one to see the physical world with new eyes. The objective of this article is to provide an overview concerning the physical mechanisms and paradoxes taking place in non-radiative detection. We will first explain the connection between Heisenberg uncertainty relations and the Rayleigh Criterion. The fundamental role of evanescent fields will be pointed out through the plane wave expansion. Finally a catalogue of the different configurations currently in use will be given and illustrated with some experimental results.