Near-field recording

24 Readout results of the polarization-multiplexed recorded data at the respective recording polarization angles 0°, 60°, and 120°. 

8 Differentia] Phase-Contrast Microscope with a Split Detector 

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Application of Near-Field Recording to High-Resolution Imaging... 

In this chapter, we also describe the near-field recording technique. We can greatly reduce the bit size by using near-field optics. " ... 

Various materials have been examined for the media of near-field recording, Martin el al and Betzig et used optomagnetic material, and Irie used diarylethene derivatives. ... 

Urethane-urea copolymer materials shown in Figure 16,12 are also promising for the application of near-field recording. " Figures 16.25a and... 

In the near-field recording technique presented in Section 16.5.1, the evanescent field distributions near the particles were recorded as surface topography of a photosensitive film, and the topc aphy was read out with an AFM. This is good for the application of high-resolution imaging, because the evanescent distribution near a specimen can be converted to the topographical change of the film surface and detected with an AFM. 

It was found that the surface of the photosensitive film was modulated by the intensity distribution of light induced by the fine structures of the specimen. The cilia of a paramecium were clearly observed. One could recognize that the end of each cilium branched into two cilia. Because the spatial resolution of the observed result is smaller than 100 nm, the evanescent wave distribution generated by the fine structures of the specimens were imaged with the near-field recording technique. 

In the application of high-resolution imaging based on the near-field recording technique, it is interesting to observe various light properties such as polarization, absorption spectrum, fluorescence, and so forth, in near-field regions with the combination of functionalized films for the measurement of these properties. The system has the potential of being an application of the material science of thin films. 

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