Near-field scanning optical microscopy analysis of the near and far-field intensity distribution of semiconductor laser diodes

Summary form only given. Preliminary measurements of the near field in the transverse dimension of a semiconductor laser reveal subwavelength features not measurable in the far field. We thus show that the direct measurement of the near field via near field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) permits a careful analysis of the indirect theoretical near-field calculation based on far-field extrapolation techniques. Modifications to the far-field theory can then be made to obtain a more accurate representation of the true near-field distribution.