Dual-color plasmonic probes for improvement of scanning near-field optical microscopy

Design and modeling of a class of scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) probe for improving performance are reported. The basic idea is to generate more than one hot spot with well-known spatial distribution. This not only enables one to calibrate out many sorts of errors in conventional SNOM but also results in the increase in the speed of imaging. We utilize plasmonic nanocolor sorter structures to design aperture probes that create two spatially distinct hot spots. The method of moment analysis technique is employed to tune the probe for operation at standard Ar-ion laser wavelengths (457.9 and 514.5 nm). (c) 2018 Optical Society of America