Far-field fluorescence microscopy beyond the diffraction limit

Antoine M. van Oijen; Jürgen Köhler; J. Schmidt; Markus Müller; G. J. Brakenhoff

doi:10.1364/josaa.16.000909

Abstract

A technique has been developed to obtain three-dimensional structural information on a length scale well below the Rayleigh length with conventional far-field optics. By spectrally selecting a single molecule with high-resolution laser spectroscopy and using a CCD camera to register the spatial distribution of the emitted photons in three dimensions, one can determine the position of a molecule with unprecedented accuracy. One can resolve details in the specimen with sub-diffraction-limited resolution in three dimensions by applying this procedure to as many molecules as are present in the same diffraction-limited volume and obtaining their mutual positions. The feasibility of this technique is demonstrated for the system of pentacene in p-terphenyl at cryogenic temperatures for which molecules were localized with an accuracy of better than 40 nm in the lateral and 100 nm in the axial directions.

Keywords

OpticsDiffractionMaterials scienceImage resolutionSpectroscopyRayleigh scatteringMicroscopyResolution (logic)PentacenePhysicsNanotechnologyComputer science

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Publication Info

Year: 1999
Type: article
Volume: 16
Issue: 4
Pages: 909-909
Citations: 93
Access: Closed

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APA Style

                            
                                
                                    Antoine M. van Oijen, 
                                
                                    Jürgen Köhler, 
                                
                                    J. Schmidt
                                
                                et al.
                            
                            (1999). 
                            Far-field fluorescence microscopy beyond the diffraction limit. 
                            Journal of the Optical Society of America A
                            , 16
                            (4)
                            , 909-909.
                            https://doi.org/10.1364/josaa.16.000909
                        

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1364/josaa.16.000909