ABSTRACT

In order to overcome the drawbacks of the optical fiber based probes as presented in Chapter 2, several approaches for fabrication of the NSOM probes using Si micromachining technology have been proposed. This section will give a short overview of some of them. All updated contributions in the field, however, could not be covered. The main contributions of micromachined optical near-field probes are briefly discussed. Every technique has its advantages and disadvantages. The comparisons presented are intended for readers in the hope that they can find useful information for their specific purposes.