High Speed Plasmonic Structured Illumination Microscopy

目的：该计划的目标是开发一种具有前所未有的成像分辨率和速度的高通量光学显微镜技术的新概念。通过结合两个新兴领域，表面等离子体激元干涉工程与结构照明显微镜技术，提出的等离子体激元结构照明显微镜（PSIM）利用表面等离子体激元的上级属性，显着提高空间分辨率。与传统光学显微镜相比，原型等离子体结构照明显微镜将以3-5倍的空间分辨率改善来构建。目标成像速度为50帧/秒及以上。智力优势：PSIM是一个新的概念，它是有史以来第一次利用表面等离子体干涉图案的结构照明显微镜，以提高成像分辨率。同时考虑到高分辨率和高速度，所提出的PSIM将代表一个新的标准的光学成像工具，是很难实现通过任何其他现有的技术。 更广泛的影响：该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的影响。这项研究的影响将是深远的。外联活动包括研究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，以协助他们在各自领域的新发现。

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.