Label-free incoherent super-resolution optical microscopy

The photo-kinetics of fluorescent molecules have enabled the circumvention of far-field optical diffraction-limit. Despite its enormous potential, the necessity to label the sample may adversely influence the delicate biology under investigation. Thus, continued development efforts are needed to sur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Jayakumar, Nikhil, Villegas-Hernandez, Luis E, Zhao, Weisong, Mao, Hong, Dullo, Firehun T, Tinguley, Jean Claude, Sagini, Krizia, Llorente, Alicia, Balpreet Singh Ahluwalia
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 11.09.2024
Subjects
Far fields
Fluorescence
Illumination
Image resolution
Kinetics
Microscopes
Microscopy
Optical microscopy
Optical properties
Photoluminescence
Polystyrene resins
Silicon nitride
Waveguides
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Summary:The photo-kinetics of fluorescent molecules have enabled the circumvention of far-field optical diffraction-limit. Despite its enormous potential, the necessity to label the sample may adversely influence the delicate biology under investigation. Thus, continued development efforts are needed to surpass the far-field label-free diffraction barrier. The coherence of the detected light in label-free mode hinders the application of existing super-resolution methods based on incoherent fluorescence imaging. In this article, we present the physics and propose a methodology to circumvent this challenge by exploiting the photoluminescence of silicon nitride waveguides for near-field illumination of unlabeled samples. The technique is abbreviated EPSLON, Evanescently decaying Photoluminescence Scattering enables Label-free Optical Nanoscopy. We demonstrate that such an illumination has properties that mimic the photo-kinetics of nano-sized fluorescent molecules. This allows for developing a label-free incoherent system that is linear in intensity, and stable with time thereby permitting the application of techniques like structured illumination microscopy (SIM) and intensity-fluctuation-based optical nanoscopy (IFON) in label-free mode to circumvent the diffraction limit.
ISSN:2331-8422