Scattering-type scanning near-field infrared microscopy at low temperatures

We present a combination of a versatile low-temperature scattering-type near-field infrared microscope (LT-s-SNIM ) with a tunable infrared free-electron laser (FEL). Our s-SNIM operates over a broad temperature range from 15 - 300 K and is unique in being tunable over a broad frequency range, thanks to the FEL. The over-all LT-s-SNIM functionality down to lowest temperature was tested on both standard gold and structured silicon dioxide samples, revealing net near-field contrasts and no topography cross-talk. Secondly, we investigated several ferroelectric phase transitions in barium titanate single crystals at 273 K and 193 K, allowing to associate clear near-field resonances to every phase and each ferroelectric domain; here, the clear benefit of our LT-s- SNOM pays off, being able to record s-SNOM, PFM, KPFM and topographic data with one and the same tip from every sample surface spot. Thirdly, we used the Jahn-Teller-Transition in the piezoelectric material GVS to quantify the local temperature increase under the AFM tip upon IR irradiation.