Coherent Four-Fold Super-Resolution Imaging with Composite Photonic-Plasmonic Structured Illumination

Antonio I. Fernández-Domínguez Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Spain Zhaowei Liu Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, USA John Pendry Blackett Laboratory, Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, London, UK

In this contribution, we present a theoretical proposal [1] to achieve far-field four-fold optical super-resolution on non-fluorescent samples. The scheme uses coherent scattering from a tunable composite photonic-plasmonic structured illumination [2]. The super-resolved image retrieval method is first developed within a scalar Fourier Optics frame, requiring the linear combination of 13 diffraction-limited images to resolve spatial features down to λ/8. The approach is subsequently verified through full electromagnetic simulations modelling its experimental implementation.

Our electrodynamic calculations show that the technique resolves object features down to 60 nm for a 465 nm operating wavelength. The sensitivity of a simple proof-of-concept set-up against illumination parameters and specimen characteristics is thoroughly analyzed. Our results indicate that the proposal presents limitations in microscope attributes such as field of view or phase-noise sensitivity. We discuss how these are expected to be overcome in an optimized tool design. Finally, the resolution power of the imaging scheme is proven against both Abbe´s and Rayleigh´s criteria through the systematic imaging of single and closely spaced objects, respectively.

The left panel of the figure plots the four-fold super-resolved image obtained from two 35 nm width objects separated by a 70 nm gap (the diffraction-limited images used for its construction are shown in the background). The right top panel renders the super-resolved images for two objects of width 0.5w separated by a gap w, as a function of the parameter w (top). The electric field map showing the scattering of the specimen (w=70 nm) for given configuration of the photonic-plasmonic structured illumination is rendered in the right bottom panel.

We believe that our fundamental findings offer novel possibilities in the scientific quest against the diffraction limit of classical optics, broadening the current microscopic imaging toolbox [3], and opening a promising technological pathway to push non-fluorescent far-field optical resolution deep into the nanoscale.

[1] A. I. Fernández-Domínguez, Z. Liu and J. B. Pendry, under review (2015).

[2] M. G. L. Gustafssonn, Journal of Microscopy 198, 8287 (2000).

[3] C. G. Galbraith J. A. Galbraith, Journal of Cell Science 124, 1607 (2011).

a.fernandez-dominguez@uam.es









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