Image Credit: Elizaveta Galitckaia/Shutterstock.com Scanning optical microscopy is a microscopy technique that sits within the broader category of scanning probe microscopy. It was developed in the 1980s to enable the study of properties such as refractive index, chemical structure, and local mechanical and chemical stresses at the scale of nanometers. Introduction to Scanning Optical Microscopy Scanning optical microscopy is a method for the investigation of nanostructures in samples. It enables researchers to break the far-field resolution limit, and so is also referred to as near-field sc...