Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.
Variable-aperture optical near-field probe
Disclosed is an improved optical near-field probe for optical near-field microscopy or optical near-field recording having an effective aperture diameter variable to comply with different applications. The improvement comprises attaching, to the aperture end opening of an optical fiber-based probe, a thin film made from a substance which is opaque but capable of being rendered transparent, such as antimony or photo-chromic compounds, by irradiation with light so that the center area only of the end opening becomes transparent and transmits the laser beam to serve as an effective aperture of a diameter variable depending on the intensity of the light.
Japan as represented by Secretary of Agency of Industrial Science and Technology
B B G
B82Y B82Y G01Q
inventional inventional inventional
Motoichi Motonobu Nobufumi Takashi Junji
Ohtsu Kourogi Atoda Nakano Tominaga