Improvement of tapping-mode scanning near-field optical microscope

The commercial crystal tuning fork glued with an optical fiber probe is used as the sensitive detecting element for the tapping-mode scanning near-field optical microscopy. Firstly, the single-mode optical fiber is etched down to a small diameter to decrease the burden of the tuning fork. Secondary, the fiber is etched for the second time to form the sharp tip with large cone angle. Thirdly, the fiber probe, with nanometric tip and high light throughput, is glued to tuning fork by Cyanoacrylate Adhesive. The measured quality factor, Q, of the tuning fork/optical fiber probe assembly prepared in this way is higher than 300. The optical signal is modulated to the frequency of the tuning fork by optical fiber probe as it is detecting the topography of sample. The high-resolution of the tapping- mode detector is proved by imaging the topography of the grating and biological cell.