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Science 22 March 1991:
Vol. 251. no. 5000, pp. 1468 - 1470
DOI: 10.1126/science.251.5000.1468
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Articles

Breaking the Diffraction Barrier: Optical Microscopy on a Nanometric Scale

E. BETZIG 1, J. K. TRAUTMAN 1, T. D. HARRIS 1, J. S. WEINER 1, and R. L. KOSTELAK 1

1 AT&T Bell Laboratories, 600 Mountain Avenue, Murray Hill, NJ 07974

In near-field scanning optical microscopy, a light source or detector with dimensions less than the wavelength (lgr) is placed in close proximity (lgr/50) to a sample to generate images with resolution better than the diffraction limit. A near-field probe has been developed that yields a resolution of sim12 nm (simlgr/43) and signals sim104- to 106-fold larger than those reported previously. In addition, image contrast is demonstrated to be highly polarization dependent. With these probes, near-field microscopy appears poised to fulfill its promise by combining the power of optical characterization methods with nanometric spatial resolution.

Submitted on November 30, 1990
Accepted on February 5, 1991


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