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Batch fabrication of cantilever array aperture probes for scanning near-field optical microscopy

The optical microscope is the most commonly used tool for examining small objects, but it has poor spatial resolution. The resolution problem can be overcome by using metallic structures to constrain the electromagnetic field, but there are extreme practical difficulties. This paper presents a complete solution to the generation of nano-scale optical structures in metal and provides a means for positioning them in proximity to the sample. The structures are of equal size (± 5nm), enabling rapid scanning by use of parallelism. The structures can be manufactured on the wafer scale and probes have been shipped in quantity.