Near-Field Spectroscopy With Nanoparticles Deposited by AFM

An alternative approach to apertureless near- field optical spectroscopy involving an atomic-force microscope (AFM) entails less complexity of equipment than does a prior approach. The alternative approach has been demonstrated to be applicable to apertureless near-field optical spectroscopy of the type using an AFM and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), and is expected to be equally applicable in cases in which infrared or fluorescence spectroscopy is used.