Role of multipole moment of the probe in apertureless near-field optical microscopy

The model of apertureless near-field optical microscope is developed taking into account the multipole moment of probe. In the case of samples with small dielectric absorption, the multipole moments are shown to be responsible for the appearance of additional resonances in the spectrum of scattered signal. The influence of multipole moments is especially pronounced in the near-field microscopy with modulation of tip–sample distance. A good agreement of the theoretical results with experimental data in the case of resonant interaction of the probe and sample is demonstrated.