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Measurement of Scattering Nonlinearities from a Single Plasmonic Nanoparticle
Published on: January 3, 2016
Nonlinear structured illumination microscopy by surface plasmon enhanced stimulated emission depletion
Han Zhang1, Ming Zhao, Leilei Peng
1College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, 1630 E University Blvd., Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
Optics Express
|November 24, 2011
Summary
Surface plasmon resonance enhances stimulated emission depletion structured illumination microscopy (STED-SIM), enabling high-speed, 30-nm resolution imaging. This breakthrough overcomes laser power limitations for observing single molecules in live cells.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Optical Microscopy
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Nonlinear structured illumination microscopy (SIM) offers theoretically unlimited resolution but is limited by signal-to-noise ratio and photon budget.
- Saturated SIM (SSIM) causes significant photobleaching, hindering biological applications.
- Stimulated emission depletion (STED) SIM promises higher sensitivity and resolution with reduced phototoxicity, but requires unattainable laser power for full-field effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the feasibility of STED-SIM by addressing the limitations of current laser technology.
- To explore the use of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to enhance the STED effect for microscopy.
- To achieve high-speed, super-resolution imaging for observing dynamic biological processes.
Main Methods:
- Experimental demonstration of SPR enhancement of near-surface STED effect.
- Simulation analysis of SPR-enhanced 2D STED-SIM performance.
- Utilizing total internal reflection microscopy (TIRM) mode.
Main Results:
- Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) was experimentally shown to enhance the near-surface STED effect by a factor of 8.
- SPR-enhanced STED-SIM is feasible in TIRM mode.
- Simulation predicts SPR-enhanced 2D STED-SIM can achieve 30-nm resolution and single-molecule sensitivity at high speeds.
Conclusions:
- SPR enhancement makes STED-SIM a viable super-resolution microscopy technique.
- This method offers a solution for high-speed, high-resolution imaging of single-molecule dynamics.
- Potential applications include in vitro studies and observing processes on the basal membrane of live cells.
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