Results and applications

To date, near-field optical microscopes have proved that optical images can be obtained with lateral resolution well below the Rayleigh criterion. But the resolution is even less than that of the scanning tunneling electron microscope or the atomic force microscope. However, even with a resolution limited to 20 nm, near-field optical microscopy has a great future ahead of it, as it enables us to extend all op-tical methods of analysis, measurement and manufacture into the submicron range. Over the past two years, the number of publications has risen sharply, illustrating the diverse possibilities of this new optical microscopy. We will present some of the best results in terms of resolution, then go on to classify a few examples of applications.