Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 9, 2026

Near-Infrared Temperature Measurement Technique for Water Surrounding an Induction-heated Small Magnetic Sphere
Published on: April 30, 2018
Optical image contrast enhancement in near-field optics induced by water condensation
Maysoun Douas1, Manuel I Marqués, Pedro A Serena
1Departamento de Física de Materiales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain; Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
In surface science, water adsorption on hydrophilic samples is usually invoked, addressing their nanoscale experimental effects in scanning probe microscopy, especially when water condensates between tip and sample. Here we study by means of a numerical hybrid method the effect of water bridge formation in near field imaging. We show how this nanometric water neck plays an important role not only in the optical image, producing a high contrast at hydrophilic patches, but also in the tip-sample distance control. This work contributes with a new methodology able to retrieve the original application of SNOM, using it as an instrument to study the optical properties of matter overcoming the diffraction limit. It extends the application of SNOM to study the hydrophilic character of polymeric and biological samples, taking advantage of ubiquitous effect of humidity when operating in ambient condition.
More Related Videos
14:09Quantitative Optical Microscopy: Measurement of Cellular Biophysical Features with a Standard Optical Microscope
Published on: April 7, 2014
14:09High-Throughput Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence and Direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy Using a Photonic Chip
Published on: November 16, 2019
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...
Focusing of Light in the Eye
Nuclear Overhauser Enhancement (NOE)