Consideration and control of writing conditions with near-field aperture solid immersion lens probe

Control of writing conditions for near-field aperture-SIL (APSIL) probe is investigated with respect to polarization, axial focus position of the objective lens and beam transverse misalignment. Both FDTD simulations and edge-scan experiments are used in the investigation. The TE direction is the optimal writing polarization direction, and the probe exit plane is the optimum focus position of the illuminating lens. Spot size change and spot position shift relative to the center of the probe are observed with TE polarization when the writing beam is transversely misaligned.