Patent ID: 7483465

Claim:
A near field optical apparatus, comprising: a first reflective region adjacent a first side of an active region; a second reflective region adjacent a second side of the active region; an emission face proximate to the first reflective region, the emission face including a reflective, conductive layer, the emission face including a subwavelength aperture extending through the reflective conductive layer and into at least a portion of the first reflective region, the reflective conductive layer including at least one protrusion which extends into the aperture, wherein the protrusion is of sufficient size to produce a transmission mode with high throughput; a first area under the aperture and a second area surrounding the aperture, the first area including a smaller number of distributed Bragg reflector mirrors than the second area; a contact layer positioned between the reflective conducting layer and the first reflective region; and an oxide layer positioned between the reflective conducting layer and the contact layer.