Theory of near-field optics applied to semiconductor nanostructures

Summary form only given. The optical response of nanostructured semiconductors around the bandgap is dominated by the properties of excitons in interface potentials fluctuating: on a mesoscopic length scale. On this length scale, scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) extents the optical resolution to a fraction of the wavelength of light. The results of a finite difference time domain evaluation of Maxwell's equations for the near-field response of weakly quantum confined excitons is presented. In contrast to previous work, our approach is focused on the combined dynamics of spatial as well as time-resolved phenomena in semiconductor near-field optics. The analysis is applied to a series of relevant problems in the wide field of SNOM.