Super-resolution bright-field optical microscopy based on nanometer topographic contrast
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Updated: Aug 20, 2026

High-Throughput Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence and Direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy Using a Photonic Chip
Published on: November 16, 2019
Shu-Wei Huang1, Hong-Yao Mong, Chau-Hwang Lee
1Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
Abstract:
By using an expectation-maximization maximum likelihood estimation algorithm to improve the lateral resolution of a recently developed non-interferometric wide-field optical profilometer, we obtain super-resolution bright-field optical images of nanometer features on a flat surface. The optical profilometer employs a 365-nm light source and an ordinary objective lens of a 0.95 numerical aperture. For objects of 100 nm thickness, lateral features about lambda/7 can be resolved in the restored images without fluorescence labeling. Current image acquisition rate is 0.1 frame/sec, which is limited by the brightness of the light source. With a brighter light source, the imaging speed can be fast enough for real-time observation of dynamic activities in the nanometer scale.
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