New slides of “hyperbolic metamaterials” will improve the analytical power of light microscopes
Since the resolution limit of most conventional optical microscopes is only 200 nanometers, scientists at the University of California, San Diego, are considering a new type of glass slide coated with “hyperbolic metamaterials” to improve its analytical power even further. The material consists of nanoscale layers of silica glass and alternating layers of silver, which can improve the resolution of microscope slides up to 40 nanometers.
With a special coating glass slide material samples
When light passes through the coating, its wavelength is shortened and the light is scattered to create a pattern of spots. A sample material on a slide allows a spotted pattern of short-wavelength light to shine from multiple angles to produce a series of low-resolution images.
From there, the team used an associated computer algorithm to reconstruct the composite images to produce a composite high-resolution image. Even with an ordinary light microscope, it can image objects that are much smaller than they used to be.
So far, extensive tests have shown that the new slide material allows the microscope to image individual actin filaments in fluorescent-labeled cells, as well as microscopic fluorescent beads and quantum dots between 40 and 80 nanometers.
Scientists are now using the technique to image subcellular structures inside living cells that normally require electron microscopes to image such small structures. Unfortunately, the technique is not yet able to do this with living cells because it has to place the sample in a vacuum chamber.
Details of the study, published this week in the journal Nature Communications, The original title was Metamaterial Assisted Illumination Nanoscopy Via Random Super-Resolution Speckles.
Relevant link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-21835-8
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Post time: Jun-17-2021