Near-field light detection by conservative and dissipative force modulation methods using a piezoelectric cantilever

We demonstrated near-field light detection by dynamic force microscope using a self-sensing piezoelectric cantilever having a lead zirconate titanate thin film layer. The cantilever tip was brought close to a glass plate with a patterned chromium film on a right angle prism. The backside of the prism was irradiated by an intensity modulated laser light to create an evanescent field at the glass surface. We obtained near-field optical images of the patterned glass by detecting the frequency shift modulation or the amplitude modulation induced by the near-field light while the tip-sample distance was regulated by the frequency modulation method in ambient condition. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3449131]