FDTD simulation of tapered structure of near-field fiber probe

• Published in: Computer physics communications Vol. 142; no. 1; pp. 464 - 467
• Main Authors: Nakamura, Hiroaki, Saiki, Toshiharu, Kambe, Hirotomo, Sawada, Keiji
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 15.12.2001; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Aperture probe; Applied classical electromagnetism; Collection efficiency; Computational techniques; Electromagnetism; electron and ion optics; Exact sciences and technology; FDTD; Finite-difference methods; Finite-difference time-domain method; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Geometrical optics; Instruments, apparatus, components and techniques common to several branches of physics and astronomy; Mathematical methods in physics; Near-field scanning optical microscopy; NSOM; Optical system design; Optics; Physics; Scanning probe microscopes, components and techniques; Scanning tunneling microscopes; Taper structure; Finite-difference time-domain method; Collection efficiency; Aperture probe; 02.70.B; 41.20.-q; NSOM; Taper structure; 42.15.Eq; 07.79.C; Near-field scanning optical microscopy; FDTD; Digital simulation; Finite difference time-domain analysis; Collection; Aperture; Pinch out; Taper; Calculation methods; Near field optics
• ISSN: 0010-4655; 1879-2944
• DOI: 10.1016/S0010-4655(01)00392-7

The finite-difference time-domain method was employed to simulate light propagation in tapered near-field fiber probes with several small metal apertures. By conducting large-volume simulations, including tapered metal-cladding waveguide and connected optical fiber waveguide, we illustrated the coupling between these guiding modes as well as the electric field distribution in the vicinity of the aperture. The dependence of the spatial resolution and the collection efficiency on the aperture diameter were reproduced.