Fundamentals and model of photonic-force microscopy

Exact calculations of the near-field electromagnetic force on a nanoparticle exerted by the presence of a corrugated dielectric interface are carried out. The illumination of this system excites the particle eigenmodes. The calculation is two-dimensional, so the nanoparticle is actually a nanocylinder that scans parallel to the interface. This system constitutes a model of force transduction and surface topography imaging for a photonic-force microscope with signal enhancement owing to morphological resonance excitation of the probe. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.