Japanese | Home | Research | Publications | Members | Contact Us | Links |
Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy
- Development and Applications to Polymer Science
Near-Field Optics: [Polymer Thin Film] [Structure of Polymer Gel] [High-Resolution Patterning]
[Single Molecule Spectroscopy] [Development of Novel Near-Field Spectroscopy]
![]() The most advantage of SNOM is that it uses the "light" as the probe. SNOM enbles one to obtain a high-resolution micrograph with chemical contrast through spectroscopic measurements. In our laboratory, nanometric structures of various polymer systems have been investigated by the near-field spectroscopy since 1995. As well as the applications of SNOM, we study also on the development of novel near-field microscopy systems. 1. Phase Separation Structure of Polymer Monolayer![]() Back to page top 2. Internal Structure of Polymer GelInhomogeneous structures of poly(methyl methacrylate) gels were visualized. The time-resolved SNOM measurement revealed the hierarchy structure on the length scale from 10 to 1000 nm. Back to page top3. High Resolution Patterning on Polymer Matrix by Optical Near-Field![]() Back to page top 4. Single Molecular Spectroscopy by SNOM![]() Recently, our interest is focused on the conformation of single polymer chains. Back to page top 5. Development of Novel Near-Field MicroscopyThere is strong demand to extend variety of observable chemicals. Large part of chemical species is excited by deep ultra-violet (DUV) light and emits fluorescence. Therefore, it is expected that SNOM using DUV light source can directly "see" various kinds of chemical compounds with a high spatial resolution. We have, for the first time, developed the DUV-SNOM imaging system. Selected Publications 1. H. Aoki, S. Ito, J. Phys. Chem. B, 105, 4558 (2001). 2. H. Aoki, Y. Kunai, S. Ito, H. Yamada, K. Matsushige, Appl. Surf. Sci., 188, 534 (2002). 3. H. Aoki, S. Ito, Thin Solid Films, 449, 226-230 (2004). 4. J. Yang, R. Sekine, H. Aoki, S. Ito, Macromolecules, 40, 7573-7580 (2007). 5. T. Ube, H. Aoki, S. Ito, J. Horinaka, T. Takigawa, Polymer, 48, 6221-6225 (2007). Back to page top |