Researchers demonstrate nanoscale-resolving optical microscope
MAR 02, 2011
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.025099
BBC : Researchers in the UK and Singapore have demonstrated the highest-resolution optical microscope ever—imaging objects down to just 50 nanometers. Ordinarily, it’s impossible to use visible light to resolve objects smaller than its wavelength (380–750 nm). However, you can beat this diffraction limit by detecting “evanescent” waves, whose intensity falls to zero within one wavelength of the emitter’s surface. As reported in Nature Communications, the new technique uses tiny glass beads to gather evanescent light waves and refocus them, channeling them into a standard microscope. It is believed that the technique holds great promise for biological studies, for viewing cells, bacteria, and viruses.
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
