Status of THz-to-Visible Nanospectroscopy Development.

Quite unexpectedly, THz and infraredspectroscopy has now a real chance to solveproblems in the nanosciences. This rests ona new microscope technique that overcomesthe Abbe diffraction limit, by using thenear field of a metal antenna in closeproximity to a scanned sample surface. HereI briefly summarize present activities inthe microwave, mid-infrared and visiblespectral ranges. It seems straightforwardand highly desirable to fill the existinggap between about 20 GHz and 20 THz, andattain spatial resolution of 10 nm andbelow also in this important part of theelectromagnetic spectrum.