Comments on: Using Tiny Glass Spheres as a Superlens, Microscope Shatters Resolution Record http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/03/02/using-tiny-glass-spheres-as-a-superlens-microscope-shatters-resolution-record/ Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:34:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Adam http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/03/02/using-tiny-glass-spheres-as-a-superlens-microscope-shatters-resolution-record/#comment-25557 Adam Sun, 13 Mar 2011 18:19:18 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=26912#comment-25557 Near field scanning optical microscopy has been around for awhile. It was first proposed in 1928 and first successfully demonstrated in 1972 using microwaves. This is just an innovative way of performing it. The standard way of performing NSOM uses an optical fiber with a tip aperture on the nanoscale. You can image objects below 50nm because photons emitted from the sample are directed through the fiber before they can expand to their full wavelength (300-900nm for visible light) The aperture of the fiber must be only a few nanometers above the surface to accomplish this. Additionally using the evanescent wave (called a surface plasmon) has already been used to image objects below the threshold as the wavelength of a plasmon is smaller than its corresponding photon that it emits. Yes this is interesting, but it is not the first time the classical diffraction limit has been broken. Near field scanning optical microscopy has been around for awhile. It was first proposed in 1928 and first successfully demonstrated in 1972 using microwaves.
This is just an innovative way of performing it.
The standard way of performing NSOM uses an optical fiber with a tip aperture on the nanoscale. You can image objects below 50nm because photons emitted from the sample are directed through the fiber before they can expand to their full wavelength (300-900nm for visible light) The aperture of the fiber must be only a few nanometers above the surface to accomplish this.
Additionally using the evanescent wave (called a surface plasmon) has already been used to image objects below the threshold as the wavelength of a plasmon is smaller than its corresponding photon that it emits.

Yes this is interesting, but it is not the first time the classical diffraction limit has been broken.

]]> By: Dave http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/03/02/using-tiny-glass-spheres-as-a-superlens-microscope-shatters-resolution-record/#comment-25556 Dave Fri, 04 Mar 2011 20:51:37 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=26912#comment-25556 This is really cool! This might be a stupid question, but can it see in color? This is really cool! This might be a stupid question, but can it see in color?

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