Polarization and detection angle dependence of interferometric imaging with scattering near-field scanning optical microscope

Polarized images generated by the scattering near-field scanning optical microscopic interferometer were numerically studied by modeling the interferometer as a coupled point-dipole system. It was shown that, for a given specimen, the resolution of the near-field intensity and phase images were strongly dependent on both the polarization-direction of the reference light and the position of the far-field detector, revealing the strong polarization dependence of the near-field images. In the case of evanescent illumination, highly accurate images could be realized only when the detector was placed at a large enough view angle with the specimen and the reference light was polarized in the detecting-plane, which is vertical to the sample plane and contains both the detection point and the probe-tip.