NEAR-FIELD OPTICAL PROBE HAVING SURFACE PLASMON POLARITON WAVEGUIDE AND METHOD OF PREPARING THE SAME AS WELL AS MICROSCOPE, RECORDING/REGENERATION APPARATUS AND MICRO-FABRICATION APPARATUS USING THE SAME

摘要

A near-field optical probe comprises a micro-aperture for irradiating and/or detecting evanescent light through the front end of the probe, an elastically deformable cantilever supporting the micro-aperture at the free end thereof, and a surface plasmon polariton waveguide arranged on the cantilever to guide light from a light source to the micro-aperture and/or to guide light from a light source introduced through the micro-aperture.