We fabricated the first Fe-coated fiber probe for magneto-optical applications. In order to improve the optical confinement capability, we used a double-layer structure, with a thin coating of Au. The double-layer structure consisted of 50-nm-thick Fe and 50-nm-thick Au. A probe-to-probe experiment confirmed that the fabricated fiber probe had an effective optical confinement capability for optical near-field measurement.

We investigated the initial stage of Zn dot growth using near-field optical chemical vapor deposition. The dependence of the rate of Zn dot deposition on dot size revealed that the deposition rate was maximal when the dot grew to a size equivalent to the probe apex diameter. Such observed size-dependent resonance was in good agreement with theoretical results for dipole-dipole coupling with a Forster field between the deposited Zn dot and the probe apex.