Scattering-Type Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy and Spectroscopy for Nanoscale Chemical Analysis

Scattering-type Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (s-SNOM) is an optical microscopy and spectroscopy approach based on scanning probe technology, bypassing the ubiquitous diffraction limit of light to achieve a spatial resolution below 20nanometers. s-SNOM employs the strong confinement of light at the apex of a sharp metallic AFM tip to create a nanoscale optical hot-spot. Analyzing the scattered light from the tip enables the extraction of the optical properties (absorption, reflectivity) of the sample directly below the tip and yields nanoscale resolved images and nanoscale spectroscopy (hyperspectral nano-FTIR) information simultaneous to topography. This presentation we will introduce the basic principle of near-field microscopy and hyperspectral nano-FTIR for imaging and spectroscopy with 10 nanometer spatial resolution. In addition we will summarize the latest achievements in the field of near-field microscopy and spectroscopy on polymers, biomaterials and 2D materials and will focus on applications in chemical analysis and material identification at the nanoscale.