Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/J58091/01
Title:	NEAR FIELD OPTICAL MICROSCOPY USING VERTICAL CAVITY MICROLASERS AS BOTH SOURCE AND DETECTOR
Principal Investigator:	Somekh, Professor M
Other Investigators:	Orton, Professor CR
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Sch of Electrical and Electronic Eng
Organisation:	University of Nottingham
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	25 August 1994	Ends:	24 May 1997	Value (£):	101,355
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Materials Characterisation
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
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Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Probe beam microscopies have been growing in significance since the development of the tunnelling microscope in the early eighties. Near field optical microscopy is one such technique which although not offering such good lateral resolution does enable imaging of optical properties of materials with resolution for exceeding the conventional diffraction limit. Near field optical microscopy involves shining light from a small aperture onto the sample. The light reflected from the sample is then used to modulate the brightness of the pixel at the point. The essence of the technique, of course lies in confining light into a region much smaller than the optical wavelength. The problem with the technique arises from the fact that the amount of light coupled onto the sample decreases rapidly with decreasing hole size. The novelty of our proposal involves the use of a micro-laser with a sub wavelength hole etched in the front facet of the laser. The micro-laser because of its small size can be placed in close proximity to the sample surface. This enables far more power to be coupled onto the sample surface and furthermore the optical gain of laser cavity effects conversion gain or premplification of the relfected light thus allowing greater signal to noise ratio than obtained with conventional techniques. The improved signal to noise ratio will in turn lead to improved lateral resolution.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.nottingham.ac.uk