Since the invention of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) [1] and atomic force microscopy (AFM) [2], a new class of local probe microscopes has entered the laboratories around the world. Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) uses probing tips to map properties, such as topography, local adhesive forces, elasticity, friction or magnetic properties. In the emerging fields of nanoscience and nanotechn...

We present an overview of recent progress in "plasmonics". We focus our study on the observation and excitation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) with optical near-field microscopy. We discuss in particular recent applications of photon scanning tunnelling microscope (PSTM) for imaging of SPP propagating in metal and dielectric wave guides. We show how near-field scanning optical microscopy ...

Using low temperature spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy we have studied the morphology and magnetic properties of ultrathin Fe(0.5 ML)Au(0.5 ML) nanowires prepared on a Mo(110) single crystal. The Fe nanostripes grown by step flow on a Mo(110) at 700 K were covered by Au at RT, and subsequently annealed at 700 K. Differences in the morphology of Au on Fe(110)/Mo(110) and clean Mo(110...

The development of time-resolved scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), in particular, attempts to combine STM with ultrafast laser technology, is reviewed with emphasis on observed physical quantities and spatiotemporal resolution. Ultrashort optical pulse technology has allowed us to observe transient phenomena in the femtosecond range, which, however, has the drawback of a relatively low spat...

We present an analytic solution to the problem of determining three-dimensional object structure, described by the spatial dependence of the susceptibility, from data accessible through photon scanning tunnelling microscopy (PSTM) experiments. An analysis is presented of the scattering of evanescent waves with detection of the scattered field by a probe in the near zone of the scatterer. The re...

By using scanning tunnelling potentiometry we characterized the lateral variation of the electrochemical potential µec on the gold-induced Ge(001)-c(8 × 2)-Au surface reconstruction while a lateral current flows through the sample. On the reconstruction and across domain boundaries we find that µec shows a constant gradient as a function of the position between the contacts. In addition, nanosc...

scanning near-field optical microscopy (snom) is a member of scanning probe microscopes (spms) family which enables nanostructure investigation of the surfaces on a wide range of materials. in fact, snom combines the spm technology to the optical microscopy and in this way provide a powerful tool to study nano-structures with very high spatial resolution. in this paper, a qualified overview of ...

Fe nanoparticles grown on SrTiO3 (STO) {001} and {110} surfaces at room temperature have been studied in ultrahigh vacuum by means of transmission electron microscopy and scanning tunnelling microscopy. It was shown that some Fe nanoparticles grow epitaxially. They exhibit a modified Wulff shape: nanoparticles on STO {001} surfaces have truncated pyramid shapes while those on STO {110} surfaces...