The images produced by near-field microscopy are not only instructional and revealing, but they can be quite beautiful as well. We present the following archival images and applications for your viewing pleasure. Should you wish to use any of these copyrighted images, please contact us for permission. Click on the thumbnails to expand.

Digital and Trident PTM Applications:

Nano and Micro Tribology
Flat Panel Displays
Optical Fabrication of Consumer and Space Optics
Diamond Turned Optical Surfaces
Diffractive Optics for Telecom, Photonics, and Biotech
Optical Data Storage
Coatings of All Kinds
Optical Thin Films
Polymer Films
Protective Coatings for Polymers and Other surfaces
Fibers
Paper
Magnetic Recording
Semiconductors and Microelectronics
Life Sciences Applications
Minerology

Nano-Optic Applications

Digital and Trident PTM Applications:

Nano and Micro Tribology
  • Data Storage: Flying-head/media interface and air-bearing
  • Wear scars
  • Impact indent analysis
  • Bearing surfaces and bearing ratio
  • Crack propagation
  • Real-time scratch creation and measurement

 

Flat Panel Displays
  • Motherglass topography and defects
  • Polymer alignment film topography
  • Diffuser substrates
Optical Fabrication of Consumer and Space Optics
  • Polished glass
  • Fractures in glass
  • Etched glass
  • Sol Gel glass
  • Precision ground glass

Diamond Turned Optical Surfaces
  • Projection television optics
  • Intraocular lenses
  • Flycut zinc sulfide and other infra-red optics
  • Diamond tool inspection
  • Kinoforms

Diffractive Optics for Telecom, Photonics, and Biotech
  • Kinoforms
  • Binary diffraction optics
  • Holographic diffraction optics
  • Holographically produced gratings
Optical Data Storage
  • Metrology
  • Latent image in master
  • QC and defect analysis of master, stamper, substrates, and coatings
  • Base evaluation for embossed structures
  • Flying height measurement for near-field storage

Coatings of All Kinds
  • Joint replacements to potato chip bags

Optical Thin Films
  • Crazing and cracking--adhesion failure
  • Substrate evaluation
  • Substrate profiling (print-through)
  • Thickness measurement
  • Multilayer stacks: interfacial roughness
  • Surface roughness of coating
  • Metal thin films
  • Surface plasmons

Polymer Films
  • Imaging of polymer single crystals
  • Dewetting of polystyrene films
  • Block copolymers
  • Film formation of polymer latex
  • Diheptyl azoxy benzene
  • Liquid crystals
  • Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers
  • Latex biological barriers
  • Polymer Industrial Bases and Coatings

 

Protective Coatings for Polymers and Other surfaces
  • Silica dioxide on polycarbonate
  • Siloxane on polycarbonate
  • Siloxane on amorphous carbon
  • Diamon-like carbon (DLC) on acrylic
  • Chemical attack on DLC
  • Chemical attack on DLC coated ferrite
  • Delaminated multilayer coating

Fibers
  • Radius of curvature measurement
  • Single fibers
  • Extruded carbon fibers
  • Fibers in matrix

Paper
  • Multiple tunneling
  • Fiber interfacial adhesion and roughness

Magnetic Recording
  • Head metrology
  • Flying height measurement
  • Media evaluation (floppy and hard)
  • Wear tracks

Semiconductors and Microelectronics
  • Pattern replication
  • Deep submicron linewidth metrology
  • Etched surfaces
  • Surface roughness of wafer and surface coatings
  • Porous silicon
  • Semiconductor devices
  • Metallized semiconductors
  • X-ray mask evaluation
  • Surface states
  • Latent images in undeveloped photoresist
  • Microlithography with PTM

Life Sciences Applications
  • Cell substrate adhesion
  • Patfinding by neuroblastoma cells
  • Cell engulfment and chemotaxis
  • Blood celss (Erythrocytes)
  • Epidermal studies
  • Bacteria
  • Tobacco virus
  • Botanical samples
  • Soil nematodes
  • Diatoms

Minerology
  • Perovskite
  • Muscovite
  • Highly ordered pyrolitic graphite
  • Other minerals

Nano-Optic Applications:

  • Data storage
  • Bio-tech
  • Telecom
  • Energy
  • Displays