We have developed scanning near-field optical/atomic force microscopy (SNOM/AFM). The SNOM/AFM uses a bent optical fiber simultaneously as a dynamic force AFM cantilever and a SNOM probe. Resonant frequency of the optical fiber cantilever is 15-40 kHz. Optical resolution of the SNOM/AFM images shows less than 50 nm. The SNOM/ AFM system contains photon counting system and polychrometer ...Specifically, near-field scanning microscopy (NSOM), tip-enhanced PL (TEPL), and Raman spectroscopy (TERS) techniques have been highly effective in obtaining nanoscale optical images of 2D-TMDs [ 26 ], [ 27 ], [ 28 ]. To date, there have been a number of review papers on the use of near-field microscopy on low-dimensional materials [ 29 ], [ 30 ...The near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) or scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) [10], [11] is a scanning probe based technique that can measure local optical and/or optoelectronic properties with sub-diffraction limit resolution. Since the resolution of NSOM does not depend on the wavelength of the light, visible …May 15, 1986 · Near‐field optical‐scanning (NFOS) microscopy or ‘‘optical stethoscopy’’ provides images with resolution in the 20‐nm range, i.e., a very small fraction of an optical wavelength. Scan images of metal films with fine structures presented in this paper convincingly demonstrate this resolution capability. Design of an NFOS microscope ... Individual carbocyanine dye molecules in a sub-monolayer spread have been imaged with near-field scanning optical microscopy. Molecules can be repeatedly detected and spatially localized (to approximately lambda/50 where lambda is the wavelength of light) with a sensitivity of at least 0.005 molecules/(Hz)(1/2) and the …Here, we demonstrate a laser- and cryogen-free microwave-technology-based scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope powered by an easily aligned free-space beam with a tunable ...Line nanopatterns are produced on the positive photoresist by scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM). A laser diode with a wavelength of 450 nm and a power of 250 mW as the light source and …A review of three-dimensional scanning near-field optical microscopy (3D-SNOM) and its applications in nanoscale light management. Appl Sci-Basel 2017;7:973. 10.3390/app7100973 Search in Google Scholar [7] Hecht B, Sick B, Wild UP, et al. Scanning near-field optical microscopy with aperture probes: fundamentals and applications.6 ທ.ວ. 2020 ... Abstract Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) has proven to be a very powerful imaging technique that allows overcoming the ...Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) provides access to a variety of nanoscale phenomena that cannot be spectroscopically studied in situ by far-field spectroscopy due ...Near-field optical microscopy techniques provide information on the amplitude and phase of local fields in samples of interest in nanooptics. However, the information on the near field is typically obtained by converting it into propagating far fields where the signal is detected.The near field of an apertureless near-field scanning optical microscopy probe is investigated with a multiple-multipole technique to obtain optical fields in the vicinity of a silicon probe tip and a glass substrate. The results demonstrate that electric field enhancements of >15 relative to the incident fields can be achieved near a silicon ...Bent near-field optical probes for biological applications have been fabricated using a combination of a two-step chemical etching method and focused ion beam milling to create a well-defined aperture. The transmission efficiencies have been evaluated as a function of laser wavelength (lambda) and a …BETZIG, E, SINGLE MOLECULES OBSERVED BY NEAR-FIELD SCANNING OPTICAL MICROSCOPY, SCIENCE 262: 1422 (1993). Crossref. PubMed. ISI. Google Scholar. BIRNBAUM, D, NEAR-FIELD SCANNING OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY - SPATIALLY RESOLVED SPECTRA OF MICROCRYSTALS AND NANOAGGREGATES IN DOPED POLYMERS, JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY 97: 3091 (1993).1. Introduction. The discharge of wastes and chemical compounds into rivers is one of the biggest sources of environmental contamination, mainly in developing countries, due to a lack of domestic and industrial wastewater treatment [1,2,3].The absence of water treatment generates an accumulation of environmental pollutants which could lead to severe public health issues [].May 15, 1986 · Near‐field optical‐scanning (NFOS) microscopy or ‘‘optical stethoscopy’’ provides images with resolution in the 20‐nm range, i.e., a very small fraction of an optical wavelength. Scan images of metal films with fine structures presented in this paper convincingly demonstrate this resolution capability. Design of an NFOS microscope ... In coherent homodyne apertureless scanning near-field optical microscopy (ASNOM) the background field cannot be fully suppressed because of the interference between the different collected fields, making the images difficult to interpret. We show that implementing the heterodyne version of ASNOM allows one to overcome this issue. We present a comparison between homodyne and heterodyne ASNOM ...Depth of Field - Depth of field is an optical technique that is used to reinforce the illusion of depth. Learn about depth of field and the anti-aliasing technique. Advertisement Another optical effect successfully used to create 3-D is dep...The scattering-type near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) – often referred to as `apertureless' near-field optical microscopy – offers ultrahigh resolution independently of the wavelength 2, 3, 4, 5.Advantages of Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscopy. The advantages of the NSOM are given below. High resolution up to 2-5nm can be obtained. By contrast mechanism, the properties such as refractive index, chemical structure, and local stress can be observed.Photon scanning tunneling microscopy (PSTM), also called scanning tunneling optical microscopy, is one of the many variants of near-field optical microscopy. The instrument uses photon tunneling into a sharp tip under conditions of total internal reflection. Under these conditions, there exists only an evanescent wave at the surface.Shear‐force imaging appears to be a promising new imaging modality based on the Z‐line protein structure of the myofibrils which was antibody labelled and easily identified in the near‐field fluorescence images. Fluorescently labelled myofibrils were imaged in physiological salt solution by near‐field scanning optical microscopy and …Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is a technique can achieve spatial resolution performance beyond the classical diffraction limit by employing a sub-wavelength light source or detector positioned in close proximity to a specimen. Such a sub-wavelength source usually consists of an aperture at the end of a tapered probe, which ... In this article, we present an overview of aperture and apertureless type scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) techniques that have been developed, with a focus on three-dimensional (3D) SNOM methods. 3D SNOM has been undertaken to image the local distribution (within ~100 nm of the surface) of the electromagnetic radiation scattered by random and deterministic arrays of metal ...Harootunian, A. Lewis, and M. Isaacson. 1985. Near can now be seen that the most significant source of noise is field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). Biophys. J. 47 (2, statistical in nature. Thus, by using the above results, we Pt.2):407a. (Abstr.) find that a signal-to-noise ratio of -44 should be obtaina- 7.George Zorinyants, O. Kurnosikov. Apertureless magneto-optical near-field microscopy is developed for studying sub-picosecond spindynamics at nanometer spatial scale. Polarization modulation and tip vibrations are implemented. Polarization responsivity of the tip-induced scattering is demonstrated using polarization modulation and tip vibrations. Abstract. Luminescent centers with sharp (<0.07 millielectron volt), spectrally distinct emission lines were imaged in a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well by means of low-temperature near-field scanning optical microscopy. Temperature, magnetic field, and linewidth measurements establish that these centers arise from excitons laterally localized at ...Harootunian, A. Lewis, and M. Isaacson. 1985. Near can now be seen that the most significant source of noise is field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). Biophys. J. 47 (2, statistical in nature. Thus, by using the above results, we Pt.2):407a. (Abstr.) find that a signal-to-noise ratio of -44 should be obtaina- 7.Near-field optics has produced the highest optical resolution that has ever been achieved. The methods involved lie at the interface of far-field optical microscopy and scanned probe microscopy. This article describes the principles behind near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) and highlights its potential in cell biology. Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) has emerged over the past years as a powerful characterization tool that can probe important properties of advanced materials and biological samples in a label-free manner, with spatial resolutions lying in the nanoscale realm. In this work, we explore such usefulness in ...Harootunian, A. Lewis, and M. Isaacson. 1985. Near can now be seen that the most significant source of noise is field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). Biophys. J. 47 (2, statistical in nature. Thus, by using the above results, we Pt.2):407a. (Abstr.) find that a signal-to-noise ratio of -44 should be obtaina- 7.Early works were confined to near-field scanning methods which had only very specialized and limited applicability in biology . The first basic concepts to surpass the optical diffraction limit in far-field fluorescence microscopy were conceived in the early 1990s (see timeline in figure 1 a).Shear‐force imaging appears to be a promising new imaging modality based on the Z‐line protein structure of the myofibrils which was antibody labelled and easily identified in the near‐field fluorescence images. Fluorescently labelled myofibrils were imaged in physiological salt solution by near‐field scanning optical microscopy and …Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is a new scanned probe microscopy technique capable of combining high spatial resolution (10–100 nm) and …Near-field optics has produced the highest optical resolution that has ever been achieved. The methods involved lie at the interface of far-field optical microscopy and scanned probe microscopy. This article describes the principles behind near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) and highlights …A fiber-in-fiber-out near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) probe design for lens-free TERS measurement. In 2019, Yan group and Liu group at University of California, Riverside developed a lens-free nanofocusing technique, which concentrates the incident light from a tapered optical fiber to the tip apex of a metallic nanowire and ...A one‐dimensional near‐field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) operating in the fluorescence mode has been demonstrated. NSOM line scans of both metallic edges and fluorescent gratings have been obtained and quantitatively compared to both scanning electron micrographs and conventional optical micrographs of the same structures.PACS. Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (SNOM) allows the investigation of optical properties on subwavelength scales. During the past few years, more and more attention has been given to this technique that shows enormous potential for imaging, sensing and modification at near-molecular resolution. This article describes the technique and ... Feb 27, 2017 · 2.WHAT IS NSOM? NSOM/SNOM is a form of scanning probe microscopy. NSOM offers higher resolution around 50 nm . Breaks the far field resolution limit by exploiting the properties of evanescent waves. These fields carry the high frequency spatial information about the object and have intensities that drop off exponentially with distance from the object. In scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM or NSOM) 1,14, 15 technique, developed in the 1970s and 1980s, typically a single mode fiber optic whose tip is tapered and metal-coated is coupled ...Line nanopatterns are produced on the positive photoresist by scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM). A laser diode with a wavelength of 450 nm and a power of 250 mW as the light source and …Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM), also called scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), is a scanning probe technique that overcomes the diffraction barrier in traditional far-field optical microscopy. Conventional optical microscopy techniques are limited by the diffraction of light and the resolution is limited to roughly ... In near-field scanning optical microscopy, a light source or detector with dimensions less than the wavelength (lambda) is placed in close proximity (lambda/50) to a sample to generate images with ...Fabrication of a double-tapered probe with enhanced aspect ratio for near-field scanning optical microscopy Authors. Shuji Mononobe; Content type: Invited Paper Published: 21 September 2015; Pages: 1365 - 1368; Three-dimensional nano-optical assembly of antenna structures with collective near-field coupling Authors ...In Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscopy (NSOM), a topography scan is performed with a specialized cantilever featuring a nanoscale aperture. During the sca...George Zorinyants, O. Kurnosikov. Apertureless magneto-optical near-field microscopy is developed for studying sub-picosecond spindynamics at nanometer spatial scale. Polarization modulation and tip vibrations are implemented. Polarization responsivity of the tip-induced scattering is demonstrated using polarization modulation and tip vibrations. Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscopy NSOM Probes. Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is a technique can achieve spatial resolution performance beyond the classical diffraction limit by employing a sub-wavelength light source or detector positioned in close proximity to a specimen.Such a sub-wavelength source usually consists of an aperture at the end of a tapered probe, which ...A method for optical near field discrimination, leading to drastic artifact reduction in superresolved imaging by scanning interference apertureless microscopy is presented. The method relies on second harmonic detection of the modulated optical signal scattered by a vibrating silicon tip.Section Overview: For ultra-high optical resolution, near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is currently the photonic instrument of choice.Near-field imaging occurs when a sub-micron optical probe is positioned a very short distance from the sample and light is transmitted through a small aperture at the tip of this probe. A novel scanning probe tip made of heavily doped semiconductor is fabricated and used instead of standard gold-coated tips in infrared scattering-type near-field microscopy. Midinfrared near-field ...Here, the authors develop a far- to near-field transmission matrix microscopy that enables measuring higher-order modes of nanostructures beyond the capabilities of conventional near-field microscopy.Early works were confined to near-field scanning methods which had only very specialized and limited applicability in biology . The first basic concepts to surpass the optical diffraction limit in far-field fluorescence microscopy were conceived in the early 1990s (see timeline in figure 1 a).scanning near-field optical microscope. This hybrid network provides a long-sought solution for accurate extraction of material properties from tip-specific raw data. The methodology can be extended to other scanning probe microscopy techniques as well as other data-oriented physical problems in general.Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) imaging is a super-resolution imaging technique that features the merits of both surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and scanning probe microscopy (SPM), such as the high chemical sensitivity from the former and the nanoscale spatial resolution from the latter. These advantages make TERS an essential nanospectroscopic characterization technique for ...Near-field optics is that branch of optics that considers configurations that depend on the passage of light to, from, through, or near an element with subwavelength features, and the coupling of that light to a second element located a subwavelength distance from the first. The barrier of spatial resolution imposed by the very nature of light itself in conventional optical …With the invention of near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM), resolution at the 50-100 nm level using visible or near infrared light is now practical. In addition to describing the NSOM technique, this review focuses on the application of NSOM to the characterization of electronic and photonic materials and devices, with particular ...For example, near-field scanning optical microscopy [12] [13] [14] (NSOM), equipped with a tiny tip close to the sample surface for detection and converting evanescent waves into propagation waves ...The first THz near‐field microscopy was demonstrated in . In this work, a tapered metallic waveguide was used as the aperture to limit the size of the incident ultrashort THz pulses. The probe aperture is similar to the tapered optical fiber tips used in most of scanning near‐field optical microscopy.Near-field scanning optical microscopy based nanostructuring of glass A Chimmalgi, D J Hwang and C P Grigoropoulos-Effect of chain length on nanomechanics of alkanethiol self-assembly Ramya Desikan, Sarah Armel, Harry M Meyer III et al.-Near-Field Optics Imaging in Silica Waveguide Using Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscope Yuan-Fong Chau and ...Introduction. During the last century, the spatial resolution of the optical microscope reached its theoretical limit which is given by diffraction of light ...This concept was first demonstrated by Kawata's group through an apertureless near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) in 1994, where a metallic scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) tip ...Definition Scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) is a microscopic technique for nanostructure investigation that achieves sub-wavelength spatial resolution by exploiting short-ranged interactions between a sharply pointed probe and the sample mediated by evanescent waves.We report direct laser writing of lithography patterns with a feature width of 20±5 nm on thin photoresist film by combining a double-frequency femtosecond laser and a near-field scanning optical microscope. The obtained feature size is much smaller than the laser wavelength (λ) and the aperture diameter (d) with a resolution of λ/20 and d/2, respectively. The lithography patterns were ...07.79.Lh. This review has introduced a new near-field optical microscope (NOM)—atomic force microscope combined with photon scanning tunneling microscope (AF / PSTM). During scanning, AF/PSTM could get two optical images of refractive index image and transmissivity image, and two AFM images of topography image and phase image.The field of applications can range from physical and chemical/biochemical sensing—also at the intracellular levels—to the development of near-field probes for microscope imaging (i.e., scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM)) and optical interrogation systems, up to optical devices for trapping and manipulating microparticles (i.e ...May 10, 2021 · Scanning optical microscopy is a method for the investigation of nanostructures in samples. It enables researchers to break the far-field resolution limit, and so is also referred to as near-field ... Individual carbocyanine dye molecules in a sub-monolayer spread have been imaged with near-field scanning optical microscopy. Molecules can be repeatedly detected and spatially localized (to ∼λ/50 where λ is the wavelength of light) with a sensitivity of at least 0.005 molecules/ (Hz) 1/2 and the orientation of each molecular dipole can be ...Imaging a sample using conventional microscopy techniques relies on the collection of far-field light that has been scattered off the sample. The finest features of a material that can be observed using these techniques are limited by the far-field diffraction limit, which is approximately half of the incident light wavelength. 1 Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM ...What is it? (Revised) • Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is a type of microscopy where a sub-wavelength light source is used as a scanning probe. It is a near-surface technique to examine materials up close. • NSOM uses wavelengths smaller than the diffraction wavelength to attain more accuracy.The optical microscope, ... Examples include Vertico SMI, near field scanning optical microscopy which uses evanescent waves, and stimulated emission depletion. In 2005, a microscope capable of detecting a single molecule was described as a teaching tool.Self-Assembly Processes at Interfaces. Adam West, in Interface Science and Technology, 2018. 3.3.6 Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopies and Spectroscopy. SNOM (Chapter 3.2.4) has been used to irradiate protein films on silicon and to obtain their mid-IR spectra with a spatial resolution of about 10 nm obtained through the near-field optics.First the IR spectra of individual ferritin ...The near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) or scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) [10,11] is a scanning probe based technique that can measure local optical and/or optoelectronic properties with sub-diffraction limit resolution. Since the resolution of NSOM does not depend on the wavelength of the light, visible and near ...Passive scattering-type, scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) has been employed to study localized, long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) surface waves without external illumination. Here, we develop a cryogenic passive s-SNOM instrument in a vacuum chamber with 4 K liquid-helium cooling.Near-field imaging occurs when a sub-micron optical probe is positioned a very short distance from the sample and light is transmitted through a small aperture at the tip of this probe. The near-field is defined as the region above a surface with dimensions less than a single wavelength of the light incident on the surface.Early works were confined to near-field scanning methods which had only very specialized and limited applicability in biology . The first basic concepts to surpass the optical diffraction limit in far-field fluorescence microscopy were conceived in the early 1990s (see timeline in figure 1 a ).We have designed a low temperature near field scanning optical microscope for measurements in variable magnetic fields. The microscope is constructed as a top-loading insert for a magneto optical cryostat and allows us to perform measurements in a wide range of temperatures (T=5-300 K) and magnetic fields (B=0-7 T).For linear light scattering in apertureless scanning near-field optical microscopy, we have studied the correlations between the tip radius of the probe, signal strength, spatial resolution, and sample material. Pronounced variations of the near-field distance dependence on tip shape and dielectric function of the sample are observed.Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) [1] is an emerging technology finding applications in very diverse fields of science. Overcoming Abbe limit, NSOM systems allow obtaining optical images whose resolution is not limited by the light wavelength and represent a powerful key to explore the nano-world.Polarization properties of apertureless-type scanning near-field optical microscope (a-SNOM) were studied. Polarization SNOM images were successfully measured with the spatial resolution of ~14 nm and the angle resolution better than 1°. We found that the polarization properties of optical signals could be decomposed into SNOM signal scattered ...Figure 1a shows the schematics of a combined scanning confocal microscope and scanning near-field optical microscope that constitutes the heart of our experimental setup 13 operating at T = 1.4 K ...Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM), also known as scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), is a scanning probe technique developed to surpass the spatial resolution constraints that traditionally limit conventional optical microscopy (1-11).As shown in Fig. 1, NSOM uses fiber optic probes to funnel light down to the nanometric dimension.near-field9-12. The straight optical element would also block the condensor of an inverted optical mi-croscope or the lens of an upright microscope. Previous sample-scanning mechanisms also blocked either the condensor or the microscope objective, Near-field scanning optical microscopy in cell biology Aaron Lewis, Anna Radko,Apertureless scanning near‐field optical microscopy offers superb spatial resolution, but interpreting the recorded signal can still be a challenge. Especially images of eigenmodes in plasmonic nanostructures are very often obscured by concurrent scattering from the tip and/or coupling effects in the tip‐sample system. We show here how the ...A near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) that uses an aperture-based or an aperture-less configuration can be used to study near-field geometry (Betzig and Trautman, 1992;Hsu, 2001;Hermann ...Scattering-type near-field microscopy provides a general way to overcome the optical diffraction limit on the spatial resolution for surface spectroscopic analysis1.Unlike various approaches based on fluorescence super resolution2,3,4, scattering type near-field techniques do not require attachment of fluorophores and can operate with wide range of light wavelengths.Finer resolution is accomplished by combining pulsed laser radiation with near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) probes. In this study, short laser pulses are coupled to a fiber-based NSOM in order to ablate thin metal films. A detailed parametric study on the effects of probe aperture size, laser pulse energy, temporal width, and ...An infrared near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) is used in a controlled environment chamber to detect water vapor uptake in thin polymer films. A chemically amplified photoresist sample composed of alternating 2 μm lines of the original 1000 nm thick poly- ...
Jul 23, 2020 · Today, near-field light is mostly used for ultra-high-resolution microscopy, known as the near-field scanning optical microscopes (NSOM). However, near-field light also has untapped potential for particle manipulation, sensing, and optical communications. But since near-field light doesn’t reach our eyes like far-field light does, researchers ... . What can you do with a marketing major
Near-field imaging is a well-established technique in biomedical measurements, since closer to the detail of interest it is possible to resolve subwavelength details otherwise unresolved by regular lenses. A near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) tip may indeed overcome the resolution limits of far-field optics, but its proximity inherently perturbs the measurement.In an experimental setup, near-field radiation could, for example, be created by using a localized surface plasmon 28 or by a scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) setup 24,35 where a tip is irradiated with an external …A low-temperature near-field scanning optical microscope (LT-NSOM) is designed and realized in order to study the optical properties of nanostructures at cryogenic temperatures in the UV-visible ...Scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) is a technique capable of optically investigating the surface of a sample to form either a high-resolution two-dimensional image or to perform a local spectroscopy. Optical spectroscopy provides a wealth of information on structural and dynamical characteristics of materials.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.Near‐field optical‐scanning (NFOS) microscopy or ''optical stethoscopy'' provides images with resolution in the 20‐nm range, i.e., a very small fraction of an optical wavelength. Scan images of metal films with fine structures presented in this paper convincingly demonstrate this resolution capability. Design of an NFOS microscope ...Historically, however, spatial resolution has been limited to approximately half the wavelength due to the diffraction of light. Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is one of several optical approaches currently being developed that combines the favorable attributes of fluorescence microscopy with superior spatial resolution.2. Scattering scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM): s-SNOM is a scanning probe technique based on atomic force microscopy (AFM), combining an infrared image together with topography. An illuminating …Editor's Notes. the blue arrow denotes differentiation within the cluster of particles in the NSOM image whereas the AFM image just shows one large domain. Near field scanning optical microscopy - Download as a PDF or view online for free.Laser beam scanning using near-field scanning optical microscopy nanoscale silicon-based photodetector. Avraham Chelly. Journal of Nanophotonics. The near-field and subwavelength aperture interactions have been largely studied during the last years, as well as the use of relevant photodiodes.Scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), or near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is a microscopy technique for nanostructure investigation tha...Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is one of several optical approaches currently being developed that combines the favorable attributes of fluorescence microscopy with superior spatial resolution. NSOM is particularly well suited for studies of both model and biological membranes and application to these systems is discussed.The barrier of spatial resolution imposed by the very nature of light itself in conventional optical microscopy contributed significantly to the development of near-field optical devices, most notably the near-field scanning optical microscope, or NSOM. The relatively new optical science of dressed photons (DPs) can also find its origin in near ... Near‐field optical‐scanning (NFOS) microscopy or ''optical stethoscopy'' provides images with resolution in the 20‐nm range, i.e., a very small fraction of an optical wavelength.Multi-frequency scanning near-field optical microscopy, based on a quartz tuning fork-probe (QTF-p) sensor using the first two orders of in-plane bending symmetrical vibration modes, has recently ....