a method is provided for manufacturing near - field optical probes including at least one organo - mineral material with an organic part and a mineral part , the method including steps of irradiating at least partially the organo - mineral material with a radiation beam to polymerize the organic part in the irradiated areas , and polycondensing the mineral part by sol - gel process . also disclosed are near - field optical probes and afm and snom systems using the probes .