Equipment: MRI: Track # 2 Development of a high-speed super-resolution stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscope

受激拉曼散射（SRS）显微镜是一种基于分子振动键的非线性光学成像方法。近十年来，SRS成像技术作为一种强大的光谱成像工具得到了迅速发展，在生命科学领域取得了重大发现。最先进的（SOA） SRS仪器的空间分辨率约为300nm，宽场时间分辨率约为30Hz，这受到光的衍射性质和相对较弱的拉曼散射信号的限制。加州大学圣地亚哥分校（UCSD）的一个多学科团队将利用互补的专业知识开发第一台超分辨率（SR）和高速SRS显微镜，这是一种超材料结构照明显微镜（MESIM），与SOA相比，分辨率提高了5倍，拉曼信号提高了100倍，从而提高了速度。新仪器可能会导致生命科学和生物医学领域的新发现，包括细胞代谢、神经科学、医学和微生物学。MESIM将位于加州大学圣地亚哥分校的高通研究所，在奖励期间和之后将在那里进行维护。该仪器将提供给加州大学圣地亚哥分校和其他学术机构的教职员工，以及政府和工业合作者和用户。具有振动键灵敏度的超分辨率高速成像工具不仅对可视化新结构、识别新现象、了解生命相关活动和创造新的诊断方法的基础研究至关重要，而且还可以为新的疾病治疗方案的研究提供巨大的好处。最重要的是，它可以作为开发和实践新方法的平台，有效地探测和监测纳米尺度上具有分子特异性的动态，并可能发展成为行业标准。更广泛的影响这项研究的更广泛的影响可能是广泛的。新的成像科学和技术扩展了知识边界，并可能通过提高生活质量来影响这个生物学时代。拟建的MESIM将服务于南加州的广大地区，拟建的显微镜将使该地区和其他地理区域的用户受益。该项目还将在科学和工程领域的研究生和本科生人力资源的教育和发展方面发挥重要作用，帮助培训这一多学科领域的未来科学家和工程师。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy is a nonlinear optical imaging method for visualizing chemical content based on molecular vibrational bonds. SRS imaging technique has been rapidly developed in the last decade as a powerful spectral imaging tool, leading to significant discoveries in the life sciences. The state-of-the-art (SOA) SRS instrument has a spatial resolution of about 300nm and wide-field temporal resolution of about 30Hz, which is limited by the diffraction nature of the light and the relatively weak Raman scattering signals. A multidisciplinary team at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) with complementary expertise will develop the first super-resolution (SR) and high-speed SRS microscope, a metamaterial-enabled structured illumination microscope (MESIM), with 5X resolution enhancement and 100X Raman signal thus giving speed enhancement compared to the SOA. The new instrument may lead to new discoveries in life sciences and biomedical fields, including cell metabolism, neuroscience, medicine, and microbiology. The MESIM will be located in the Qualcomm Institute at UCSD, where it will be maintained during and after the award period. The instrument will be available to faculty members from UCSD and other academic institutions, and government and industrial collaborators and users. Intellectual merit A super-resolution high-speed imaging tool with vibrational bond sensitivity is critical not only for fundamental research to visualize new structures, identify new phenomena, understand life relevant activities, and create new diagnosis methods, it can also provide tremendous benefit to investigations of new disease treatment recipes. Most importantly, it can serve as a platform for development and practice of new approaches for efficiently probing and monitoring dynamics in nanoscales with molecular specificity and could evolve into an industry standard. Broader ImpactsThe broader impacts of this research are potentially wide-ranging. New imaging science and technology extend the knowledge boundary and could impact this age of biology by improving the quality of life. Construction of the proposed MESIM will be serving a wide area of Southern California, and the proposed microscope will benefit users throughout this and other geographic areas. The project will also play a significant role in the education and development of human resources in science and engineering at the graduate and undergraduate levels, helping to train future scientists and engineers in this multidisciplinary field.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.