Near-field reflection backscattering apertureless optical microscopy: Application to spectroscopy experiments on opaque samples, comparison between lock-in and digital photon counting detection techniques

Séverine Diziain (1, 2) , Jean-Louis Bijeon (2) , Pierre-Michel Adam (2) , Marc Lamy de La Chapelle (3, 2) , Benjamin Thomas (4, 2) , Régis Deturche (2) , Pascal Royer (2)

1 FEMTO-ST - Franche-Comté Électronique Mécanique, Thermique et Optique - Sciences et Technologies (UMR 6174)
2 LNIO - Laboratoire de Nanotechnologie et d'Instrumentation Optique
3 CSPBAT - Chimie, Structures et Propriétés de Biomatériaux et d'Agents Thérapeutiques
4 LP3 - Laboratoire Lasers, Plasmas et Procédés photoniques

An apertureless scanning near-field optical microscope (ASNOM) in reflection backscattering configuration is designed to conduct spectroscopic experiments on opaque samples constituted of latex beads. The ASNOM proposed takes advantage of the depth-discrimination properties of confocal microscopes to efficiently extract the near-field optical signal. Given their importance in a spectroscopic experiment, we systematically compare the lock-in and synchronous photon counting detection methods. Some results of Rayleigh's scattering in the near field of the test samples are used to illustrate the possibilities of this technique for reflection backscattering spectroscopy.

Mots clés: Near-field scanning optical microscopy; Rayleigh scattering; Fluorescence spectroscopy

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

Séverine Diziain, Jean-Louis Bijeon, Pierre-Michel Adam, Marc Lamy de La Chapelle, Benjamin Thomas, et al.. Near-field reflection backscattering apertureless optical microscopy: Application to spectroscopy experiments on opaque samples, comparison between lock-in and digital photon counting detection techniques. Ultramicroscopy, 2007, 107 (1), pp.16-24. ⟨10.1016/j.ultramic.2006.04.009⟩. ⟨hal-00416076⟩