Near-field scanning optical micro probe integrated with a nanometer-sized light emitting diode

We have fabricated a MEMS microprobe integrated with a nanometer-sized light emitting diode (LED) on the tip for near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). The probe body and the LED electrodes were made by wet-etching and focused ion beam(FIB) cutting of an SOI wafer. Semiconductor nanoparticles (CdSe/ZnS core-shell nanoparticles) were electrostatically trapped and excited within an electrode gap made on the probe tip. The LED-tip size is approximately 100 nm x 100 nm. The probe was tested with an NSOM setup. The probe tip was kept within roughly 5 nm from the surface to yield a successful topographic image of a sample.