Immersion microscopy based on photonic crystal materials

TL;DR

This paper develops a theoretical model for enhanced optical resolution in immersion microscopes using photonic crystal materials, demonstrating potential for virus imaging and resolution improvement.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for photonic crystal-based immersion microscopy and experimentally verifies resolution enhancement and virus imaging capabilities.

Findings

Resolution enhancement possible with photonic crystal materials

Experimental observation of positive and negative effective refractive index

Successful imaging of individual viruses

Abstract

Theoretical model of the enhanced optical resolution of the surface plasmon immersion microscope is developed, which is based on the optics of surface plasmon Bloch waves in the tightly bound approximation. It is shown that a similar resolution enhancement may occur in a more general case of an immersion microscope based on photonic crystal materials with either positive or negative effective refractive index. Both signs of the effective refractive index have been observed in our experiments with surface plasmon immersion microscope, which is also shown to be capable of individual virus imaging.