Imaging of optical and topographical distributions by simultaneous near field scanning optical atomic force microscopy with a microfabricated photocantilever

Simultaneous near field scanning optical and atomic force microscopy with a microfabricated photocantilever reveal both optical and topographical distributions, The cantilever tip changes the evanescent field into scattering light, and this scattering light is detected with a photodiode fabricated in the tip of the cantilever. The cantilever deflection signal leads to atomic force images, The resolution for imaging the evanescent field variation was 20 nm (lambda/30). The near field optical and atomic force images indicate that the same point of the cantilever tip generates both optical and atomic force signals, This method is a new approach to optical and topographical microscopy with nanometer resolution. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.