Measurements of lateral distribution of fluorescence intensities and fluorescence spectra of microareas by a combined SNOM and AFM

In the present combined scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) / atomic force microscope (AFM), we took advantage of the non-contact AFM to control the tip-sample distance for SNOM without mechanical damages of the tip and sample surfaces. By precise control of the distance of the optical fiber tip from the sample surface of less than 100 nm, we succeeded in obtaining fluorescence micrographs and also fluorescence spectra of localized microareas of a fluorescent thin film coated on a chromium checkerboard pattern.