Abstract
A near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) system employing a very-small-aperture laser (VSAL) as an active probe is reported in this Letter. The VSAL in our experiment has an aperture size of
300
nm
×
300
nm
and a near-field spot size of about
600
nm
. The resolution of the NSOM system with the VSAL can reach about
600
nm
, and even
400
nm
. Considering the high output power of the VSAL, such a NSOM system is a potentially useful tool for nanodetection, data storage, nanolithography, and nanobiology.