High Speed Plasmonic Structured Illumination Microscopy

目的：本项目的目标是开发一种新概念的高通量光学显微镜技术，具有前所未有的成像分辨率和速度。等离子体结构照明显微镜(PSIM)将表面等离子体干涉工程和结构照明显微技术这两个新兴领域相结合，充分利用了表面等离子体的优良特性，显著提高了空间分辨率。与传统光学显微镜相比，等离子体结构照明显微镜的空间分辨率将提高3-5倍。目标成像速度为50帧/秒以上。智能优点：PSIM是一个新的概念，它是第一次在结构照明显微镜中利用表面等离子体干涉图案来提高成像分辨率。考虑到高分辨率和高速度，所提出的PSIM将代表一种新的光学成像工具标准，这是目前任何其他技术都难以实现的。更广泛的影响：这种建议的PSIM提供的显著性能改进将在需要高速高分辨率光学显微镜的广泛领域产生深远影响。这项研究的影响将是深远的。外联活动包括让本科生和本科生参与该项目，以及开发新课程，这些课程将与目前的本科/研究生课程相结合。更重要的是，PSIM还将通过国家公共成像设施NCMIR介绍给当地生物学家，以帮助他们领域的新发现。

Objective: The objective of this program is to develop a new concept of a high throughput optical microscopy technique with unprecedented imaging resolution as well as speed. By combining two emerging fields, surface plasmon interference engineering with the structured illumination microscopy technique, the proposed plasmonic structured illumination microscopy (PSIM) takes advantage of the superior properties of surface plasmons to significantly improve the spatial resolution. A prototype plasmonic structured illumination microscope will be constructed with 3-5 fold spatial resolution improvement compared with a conventional light microscope. The target imaging speed is 50 frames/second and beyond. Intellectual Merit: The PSIM is a novel concept and it is the first ever to utilize surface plasmon interference patterns in structured illumination microscopy to improve the imaging resolution. Considering both the high resolution and the high speed, the proposed PSIM will represent a new standard of optical imaging tools that is difficult to realize through any other current techniques. Broader Impacts: The remarkable performance improvement provided by this proposed PSIM will make profound influences in a broad spectrum of fields wherever a high speed high-resolution optical microscopy is needed. The impact of this research will be far-reaching. The outreach activities include the involvement of graduate and undergraduate students in the project as well as the development of new courses which will be integrated with current under/graduate curricula. More importantly, the PSIM will also be introduced to local biologists through NCMIR, a national public imaging facility, to assist in the new discoveries in their fields.