Formation of fine near-field scanning optical microscopy tips. Part I. By static and dynamic chemical etching

The probe tip is the key component in scanning probe microscopes and their applications in the nanoscale imaging and nanofabrication. In this work, we have investigated the formation of near-field scanning optical microscopy probe tips from optical fiber by chemical etching. Static and dynamic etchings and their combinations are studied. The etching process is optimized, and tips with short tapers, small apertures (about 50 nm) and large aperture cone angles (40°) are successfully obtained. Multiple-tapered tips are also fabricated by using different dynamic regimes. It is found that the taper profiles are determined by the nonlinear dynamic evolution of the meniscus of the etchant near the fiber.

[1]  K Homma,et al.  Dynamic etching method for fabricating a variety of tip shapes in the optical fibre probe of a scanning near‐field optical microscope , 1999, Journal of microscopy.

[2]  W. Kulisch,et al.  Fabrication of small diamond tips for scanning probe microscopy application , 1997 .

[3]  John E. Sipe,et al.  Nanocomposite Materials for Nonlinear Optics Based on Local Field Effects , 2002 .

[4]  Volker Deckert,et al.  High-quality near-field optical probes by tube etching , 1999 .

[5]  M. Ohtsu,et al.  Tailoring a high‐transmission fiber probe for photon scanning tunneling microscope , 1996 .

[6]  M. Ohtsu,et al.  Fabrication of a pencil-shaped fiber probe for near-field optics by selective chemical etching , 1996 .

[7]  Frédérique de Fornel,et al.  Evanescent waves : from Newtonian optics to atomic optics , 2001 .

[8]  E. Betzig,et al.  Near-Field Spectroscopy of the Quantum Constituents of a Luminescent System , 1994, Science.

[9]  Olivier J. F. Martin,et al.  Scanning near-field optical microscopy with aperture probes: Fundamentals and applications , 2000 .

[10]  Patrik Hoffmann,et al.  Comparison of mechanically drawn and protection layer chemically etched optical fiber tips , 1995 .

[11]  Robert C. Dunn,et al.  Near-field fluorescence imaging and fluorescence lifetime measurement of light harvesting complexes in intact photosynthetic membranes , 1994 .

[12]  Christopher C. Davis,et al.  Near‐field direct‐write ultraviolet lithography and shear force microscopic studies of the lithographic process , 1995 .

[13]  C. Vieu,et al.  Fabrication and characterization of optical-fiber nanoprobes for scanning near-field optical microscopy. , 1998, Applied optics.

[14]  P. Hoffmann,et al.  Gold elliptical nanoantennas as probes for near field optical microscopy , 2002 .

[15]  C. L. Cheung,et al.  Growth and fabrication with single-walled carbon nanotube probe microscopy tips , 2000 .

[16]  Kenneth B. Crozier,et al.  Near-field photolithography with a solid immersion lens , 1999 .

[17]  Claude Philipona,et al.  Fiber tips for scanning near-field optical microscopy fabricated by normal and reverse etching , 1998 .

[18]  M. Pfeffer,et al.  Chemically etched fiber tips for near-field optical microscopy: a process for smoother tips. , 1998, Applied optics.

[19]  Motoichi Ohtsu,et al.  Fabrication of a triple tapered probe for near-field optical spectroscopy in UV region based on selective etching of a multistep index fiber , 1998 .

[20]  P. Dawson,et al.  Chemical etching of optical fibre tips--experiment and model. , 2000, Ultramicroscopy.

[21]  Motoichi Ohtsu,et al.  INCREASING THROUGHPUT OF A NEAR-FIELD OPTICAL FIBER PROBE OVER 1000 TIMES BY THE USE OF A TRIPLE-TAPERED STRUCTURE , 1998 .