Scanning microscopy by mid-infrared near-field scattering

laser radiation from an AFM tip. In the microscopic images we find and identify a new type of AFM-induced artifact (crosstalk via the tapping amplitude). Minimizing this by proper scan parameters we obtain evidence of true infrared contrast. The results demonstrate the material-sensitive potential of infrared-spectroscopic imaging and a spatial resolving power of better than 100 nm.