Video rate near-field scanning optical microscopy

The enhanced transmission efficiency of chemically etched near-field optical fiber probes makes it possible to greatly increase the scanning speed of near-field optical microscopes. This increase in system bandwidth allows sub-diffraction limit imaging of samples at video rates. We demonstrate image acquisition at 10 frames/s, rate-limited by mechanical resonances in our scanner. It is demonstrated that the optical signal to noise ratio is large enough for megahertz single pixel acquisition rates.