Abstract
The feasibility of stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy using a solid immersion lens was investigated. First, the theoretical feasibility of the considered system is discussed based on a vectorial field algorithm that uses a stratified medium composed of a SIL air-gap and test sample. Using the simulation, we verified that evanescent waves with much higher spatial frequencies corresponding to the high numerical aperture in the air-gap can be utilized to achieve a higher resolution than a confocal fluorescent image without a depletion beam. The simulated expectation was supported by actual imaging on two types of samples: fluorescent beads with a 20 nm diameter and an actin sample with a filamentous structure. The lateral resolution of the system was determined to be 34 nm via the imaging results on the nano-beads. The system was quite promising for achieving nano-scale surface imaging of biological samples; an even higher resolution was achieved by adjusting the wavelength and the intensity of the depletion beam.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 16629-16642 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Optics Express |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 14 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2017 Jul 10 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korean Government (MSIP) (No. 2015R1A5A1037668). The authors would like to acknowledge NTT for supplying the KTaO3 SIL, which is based on their authentic manufacturing process.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Optical Society of America.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics