Abstract
Near-field optical microscopy provides us with super-resolving capability of optical and spectroscopic imaging/sensing by confining photons within a much smaller region than their wavelength. In this article, we review near-field infrared microscopy and spectroscopy for chemical analysis and imaging of materials at nanometric scale. After brief introduction to near-field optics, key elements for realization of near-field IR microscopy are described. Then, we show several experimental results of near-field IR spectroscopy using a several kinds of IR light sources and near-field probes. Possibility for application of FEL to near-field IR spectroscopy is also discussed.
