Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2026

Assembly, Tuning and Use of an Apertureless Near Field Infrared Microscope for Protein Imaging
Published on: November 25, 2009
Apertureless near-field optical microscopy: differences between heterodyne interferometric and non-interferometric
Ruben Esteban1, Ralf Vogelgesang, Klaus Kern
1Max Planck Institut für Festkörperforschung, Stuttgart, Germany. ruben_esteban@ehu.es
Abstract:
We analyze simulations of the image generation process in apertureless Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy to study the differences between heterodyne interferometric and non-interferometric detection schemes implemented in experiments. Beyond the well-known possibilities of interferometry to enhance signals and extract optical phase information, we find that heterodyne interferometric detection may in fact lead to more robust and easier to interpret experimental results. Further, our results illustrate how simulations that do not include the use of interferometric detection in a given experiment can lead to significant disagreements with the measurements.
Related Concept Videos
Phase Contrast and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy
In-phase-contrast microscopes, interference between light directly passing through a cell and light refracted by cellular components is used to create high-contrast, high-resolution images without staining. It is the oldest and simplest type of microscope that creates an image by altering the wavelengths of light rays passing through the specimen. Altered wavelength paths are created using an annular stop in the condenser. The annular stop produces a hollow cone of...
Imaging Biological Samples with Optical Microscopy
In optical microscopy, the specimen to be viewed is placed on a glass slide and clipped on the stage...
Atomic Force Microscopy
The AFM Probe
The probe is regarded as the heart of any AFM setup and comprises the...
Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy
Super-resolution Fluorescence Microscopy

