Artifact-free near-field optical imaging by apertureless microscopy

A method for optical near field discrimination, leading to drastic artifact reduction in superresolved imaging by scanning interference apertureless microscopy is presented. The method relies on second harmonic detection of the modulated optical signal scattered by a vibrating silicon tip. An edge resolution of 15 nm, or 7 nm Rayleigh-type resolution, with optical contrast as high as 50%, has been obtained on aluminum projection pattern samples in the constant gap width mode. Our method has been determined not to be affected by topographical artifacts by constant height mode scans. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)03431-8].