Analysis of photon-scanning tunneling microscope images of inhomogeneous samples: determination of the local refractive index of channel waveguides

Channel waveguides are imaged by a photon-scanning tunneling microscope (PSTM). The polarization of the light and its orientation with respect to the guide axis are shown to be very important parameters in the analysis of the images of such samples. We simulated image formation for the plane of incidence parallel to the axis of the guide. Our theoretical results are qualitatively in agreement with our measurements. These results show the ability of the PSTM to give information about the local refractive-index variations of a sample.