chapter 1 Introduction -- chapter 2 Introduction to near-field optics -- chapter 3 Introduction to silicon micromachining technology -- chapter 4 Fabrication of silicon microprobes for optical near-field applications -- chapter 5 Evaluation of microfabricated optical near-field probes -- chapter 6 Novel probes for locally enhancing near-field light and other applications -- chapter 7 Simulation using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method -- chapter 8 Subwavelength optical imaging with fabricated probes -- chapter 9 Optical near-field lithography -- chapter 10 Optical near-field recording with a fabricated aperture array -- chapter 11 Future aspects and conclusions.