International Standardization in Scanning Probe Microscopy which use Evanescent Field

The work of preparing International Standards in near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM), which is a form of scanning probe microscope (SPM), is carried out through the Sub-committee No. 9 of Technical-committee No. 201 in international organization for standardization (ISO/TC201/SC9). Though the spatial resolution of NSOM is significantly superior to that defined by the Abbe diffraction limit, the definition of “true” optical spatial resolution of it is rather complex. To make International Standards of the spatial resolution in aperture-type NSOM, we had to develop the calibration methods and the reference materials for it, firstly. Here, we show the process of the standardization of NSOM which has already been concluded as ISO document, and also show the progress of recent works about the standardization of NSOM in ISO/TC201/SC9.