Video rate near-field scanning optical microscopy

The enhanced transmission efficiency of chemically etched near-field optical fiber probes makes it possible to greatly increase the scanning speed of near-field optical microscopes. This increase in system bandwidth allows sub-diffraction limit imaging of samples at video rates. We demonstrate image acquisition at 10 frames/s, rate-limited by mechanical resonances in our scanner. It is demonstrated that the optical signal to noise ratio is large enough for megahertz single pixel acquisition rates. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(97)04545-2].