Quantitative Analytical Spheroid Model for Scattering-Type Scanning Near-Field Optical Spectroscopy of Layered Samples

Abstract

Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) is a versatile tool for probing optical properties at deeply subwavelength scales. Its theoretical modeling, however, typically relies on computationally intensive numerical simulations or phenomenological analytical models, limiting quantitative spectral interpretation. In our previous work, we introduced an exact analytical solution for the quasi-electrostatic prolate spheroid model of s-SNOM for homogeneous bulk samples, combining the accuracy of numerical simulations with the efficiency of analytical approaches. Here, we generalize this framework to multilayer samples using two equivalent methods: a generalized image charge method and a Fourier integral method. The resulting exact spheroid model reproduces finite-element simulations within numerical precision while retaining the computational efficiency of an analytical model. We validate the model experimentally for poly (methyl methacrylate) layers of different thicknesses, showing that a single set of geometrical parameters simultaneously reproduces multiple demodulation harmonics and all measured thicknesses, unlike the finite dipole model. We further demonstrate its applicability to strongly resonant SiC layers on dielectric and photoexcited InAs substrates, where existing analytical approaches fail. The model provides an efficient quantitative framework for interpreting multilayer s-SNOM spectra and extracting local optical properties.