Abstract: A method of forming a fiber probe having an aperture for use in near-field scanning optical microscopy. The method includes a first steps of coating an optical fiber having a tapered tip with a metal layer. Next is a step of milling the tapered tip and metal layer such that an aperture is formed through the metal layer at the tapered tip. The milling step includes focused ion-beam milling the tapered tip and metal layer. The focused ion-beam milling can be done by raster scanning the focused ion-beam in a rectangular pattern at an apex of the tapered tip. Also, the fiber probe made through the above outlined method is used in near-field scanning optical microscopy.

Abstract: A resistant based thermal probe including a nanometer sized four-leg filament integrated with a piezoresistive AFM type cantilever is created by depositing the filament structure onto the cantilever by a chemical vapor deposition technique where the cantilever is exposed to the flux of precursor gas. An incident electron beam causes a fragmentation of the gas molecules leaving a deposit behind which leads to a conductive deposit shaped as a multi-leg filament structure for thermal measurements of a sample. A deposited four leg filament structure has a mechanical rigidity, high spatial resolution, low thermal conductivity and thermal capacitance, fast response time, and in combination with a four point resistant measurement and lock-in technique, eliminates resistivity for increasing both the temperature sensitivity and the signal-to-noise ratio of the thermal probe.