The radiation properties of oscillating electric dipoles are studied theoretically for three and four layered systems including a single metallic slab based on angular spectrum representation of vector spherical waves. One of the remarkable results obtained is the transmission energy spectrum showing strong dependence on the thickness of a dielectric layer placed between oscillating electric dipole and metallic surface, which explains the experimental results of molecular fluorescence into surface plasmon modes. The theory based on angular spectrum representation and tunneling current provides us with a clear identification of plasmonic excitation transfer, transmission loss associated with plasmon transport in metallic layer, and energy dissipation or quenching of excitation due to surface plasmon excitation at the metallic surface in relation to the characteristic complex wave number of evanescent waves.

Frequency modulation (FM) noise spectroscopy with diode laser is applied to high-resolution Doppler-free spectroscopy of Cs atomic vapor near a dielectric surface with evanescent-wave pump-probe configuration. Both high resolution and high sensitivity are realized by using an extremely simple experimental setup, in which no sweep or precise tuning of laser frequency are required. Several experimental configurations of optical near-field spectroscopy are demonstrated, which is useful for an extensive study of resonant interactions of atoms and microscopic electronic systems in optical near-fields.