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A Protocol for Real-time 3D Single Particle Tracking
Published on: January 3, 2018
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Axial localization and tracking of self-interference nanoparticles by lateral point spread functions.
Yongtao Liu1, Zhiguang Zhou1, Fan Wang2,3
1Institute for Biomedical Materials and Devices (IBMD), Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.
Nature Communications
|April 2, 2021
Summary
Researchers developed a new microscopy technique using upconversion nanoparticles and a mirror to create unique light patterns. This method achieves highly accurate real-time distance sensing with nanoscale precision.
Area of Science:
- Optical microscopy
- Nanotechnology
- Photonics
Background:
- Sub-diffraction limited localization is crucial for advanced microscopy.
- Upconversion nanoparticles offer unique optical properties for imaging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel method for precise localization of fluorescent emitters.
- To enable real-time distance sensing with nanoscale accuracy.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing single upconversion nanoparticles placed on a mirror.
- Analyzing interference patterns between emitters and their mirror images.
- Numerical simulations to understand the optical phenomena.
Main Results:
- Observed unique, bright, and position-sensitive spatial patterns from nanoparticles.
- Generated sophisticated far-field point spread functions (PSFs) like Gaussian and doughnut shapes.
- Achieved real-time distance sensing with 2.8 nm localization accuracy.
Conclusions:
- The interference of emitters with their mirror images generates position-sensitive PSFs.
- This technique effectively transfers axial nanoparticle locations into far-field patterns.
- Demonstrated a practical real-time distance sensing technology with high accuracy.
