Scanning near-field optical microscopy, spectroscopy and nanolithography

A review of the latest developments in the scanning near-field optical microscopy, spectroscopy and nanolithography is presented. The possibility of obtaining images of different semiconductor, microelectronic and microbiology structures with the resolution exceeding the diffraction limit is shown. The investigation of local energy and geometry properties of sample surfaces is discussed, including concentration, diffusion length and carrier charge spectra, mapping of the emitting surfaces of semiconductor lasers, near-field photoconductivity, propagation and transformation of surface plasmons at the resolution below 100 nm. Techniques of fabricating objects with /spl les/30-50 nm dimensions are discussed.