The optical diffraction effect imposes a radical obstacle preventing conventional optical microscopes from achieving an imaging resolution beyond the Abbe diffraction limit and thereby restricting their usage in a mul...The optical diffraction effect imposes a radical obstacle preventing conventional optical microscopes from achieving an imaging resolution beyond the Abbe diffraction limit and thereby restricting their usage in a multitude of nanoscale applications.Over the past decade,the optical microsphere nanoimaging technique has been demonstrated to be a cost-effective solution for overcoming the diffraction limit and has achieved an imaging resolution of up to about k6k8 in a real-time and label-free manner,making it highly competitive among numerous super-resolution imaging technologies.In this review,we summarize the underlying nano-imaging mechanisms of the microsphere nanoscope and key advancements aimed at imaging performance enhancement:first,to change the working environment or modify the peripheral hardware of a single microsphere nanoscope at the system level;second,to compose the microsphere compound lens;and third,to engineer the geometry or ingredients of microspheres.We also analyze challenges yet to be overcome in optical microsphere nano-imaging,followed by an outlook of this technique.展开更多
The far-field imaging properties of a high index microsphere lens spatially separated from the object are experimentally studied. Our experimental results show that, for a Blu-ray disk whose spacing is 300 nm, the hig...The far-field imaging properties of a high index microsphere lens spatially separated from the object are experimentally studied. Our experimental results show that, for a Blu-ray disk whose spacing is 300 nm, the high index microsphere lens also can discern the patterns of the object sample when the distance between the lens and the object is up to 5.4 μm. When the distance is increased from 0 to 5.4 μm, for the microsphere lens with a diameter of 24 μm, the lateral magnification increases from 3.5× to 5.5×, while the field of view decreases from 5.1 to 3.0 μm. By varying the distance between the lens and the object, the optical image can be optimized. We also indicate that the far-field imaging capability of a high index microsphere lens is dependent on the electromagnetic field intensityprofile of the photonic nanojet under different positions of the microsphere lens.展开更多
基金supported by Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province Human Resource Training Project(HRTP-[2022]-53).
文摘The optical diffraction effect imposes a radical obstacle preventing conventional optical microscopes from achieving an imaging resolution beyond the Abbe diffraction limit and thereby restricting their usage in a multitude of nanoscale applications.Over the past decade,the optical microsphere nanoimaging technique has been demonstrated to be a cost-effective solution for overcoming the diffraction limit and has achieved an imaging resolution of up to about k6k8 in a real-time and label-free manner,making it highly competitive among numerous super-resolution imaging technologies.In this review,we summarize the underlying nano-imaging mechanisms of the microsphere nanoscope and key advancements aimed at imaging performance enhancement:first,to change the working environment or modify the peripheral hardware of a single microsphere nanoscope at the system level;second,to compose the microsphere compound lens;and third,to engineer the geometry or ingredients of microspheres.We also analyze challenges yet to be overcome in optical microsphere nano-imaging,followed by an outlook of this technique.
基金financial support for this research from the Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education of China (No. 20133207110007)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61475073)
文摘The far-field imaging properties of a high index microsphere lens spatially separated from the object are experimentally studied. Our experimental results show that, for a Blu-ray disk whose spacing is 300 nm, the high index microsphere lens also can discern the patterns of the object sample when the distance between the lens and the object is up to 5.4 μm. When the distance is increased from 0 to 5.4 μm, for the microsphere lens with a diameter of 24 μm, the lateral magnification increases from 3.5× to 5.5×, while the field of view decreases from 5.1 to 3.0 μm. By varying the distance between the lens and the object, the optical image can be optimized. We also indicate that the far-field imaging capability of a high index microsphere lens is dependent on the electromagnetic field intensityprofile of the photonic nanojet under different positions of the microsphere lens.