Scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) makes it routinely possible to overcome the fundamental diffraction limit of standard (far-field) microscopy. Recently, aperture-based infrared SNOM performed in the spectroscopic mode,using the Vanderbilt University free electron laser,started delivering spatially-resolved information on the distribution of chemical species and on other laterally-fluctuating properties.The practical examples presented here show the great potential of this new technique both in materials science and in life sciences.
Philip Johannes Walter Moll, Matthias Carsten Putzke, Andrew Scott Hunter
Aleksandra Radenovic, Wayne Yang Wen Wei, Khalid Ashraf Mohie Ibrahim, Helena Miljkovic, Akhil Sai Naidu