MRI-Consortium: Development of a Multimode Microscope for Imaging Structure and Dynamics of Soft Materials

0923057 DogicBrandeis U.“该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。“技术总结：该项目旨在开发一种多模光学显微镜，从不同角度和多个长度尺度同时揭示软材料和生物材料的结构和动力学。申报仪器将以倒置光学显微镜为中心，并将具有以下四种相互兼容的模式：（1）基于红外激光的全息光镊，（2）能够以毫秒级时间分辨率和纳米级空间分辨率定位单分子的落射荧光显微镜，（3）定量偏振显微镜，其将揭示在可见光可达到的最高空间分辨率下的2D双折射图或在降低的空间分辨率下的3D双折射图，以及（4）双视图成像。新的多模显微镜将被用来检查广泛的软和生物材料，包括自组装的非两亲性膜，其形成是由手性相互作用驱动，自发振荡真核鞭毛，动力学和结构的半柔性聚合物吸收到一个硬壁和合成和表达的生物聚合物胶原蛋白在体内。拟议的仪器将在布兰迪斯大学和伍兹霍尔研究所之间的密切合作下开发，拟议仪器的操作将得到布兰迪斯MRSEC中心的支持。将采取特别努力，以开发一个新的实验课程，重点放在光学和显微镜，这将使本科生和研究生有效地使用多模显微镜。Layman总结：光学显微镜使用可见光直接成像各种软材料的结构和动力学，如油漆，泡沫，凝胶和液晶。在过去的几十年里，光学显微镜的各种专业模式已经开发出来，每种模式都揭示了被检查材料的某些方面。例如，明场显微镜揭示了整个微米级组装的结构和动力学，荧光显微镜产生这样的组装内的单个组件的动力学，偏振显微镜指示任何给定结构内的分子的取向，激光镊子使这些组装如何响应外力的研究成为可能。到目前为止，大多数软材料已被检查，无论是单模式或双模式显微镜。该项目旨在开发一种新型的多模显微镜，它将能够同时检查材料的所有四种不同的模式：明场显微镜，荧光显微镜，定量偏振显微镜和全息激光镊子。将特别注意确保每个模块的性能不会因其他模式的存在而受到影响。多模显微镜的发展将使实验，将在多个长度尺度的材料的行为相关联，从而将提供必要的洞察如何集体性质的材料，如其平衡形状和弹性产生的相互作用的各个组成部分。拟议的仪器将在布兰迪斯大学和伍兹霍尔研究所之间的密切合作下开发，拟议仪器的操作将得到布兰迪斯MRSEC中心的支持。将采取特别努力，以开发一个新的实验课程，重点放在光学和显微镜，这将使本科生和研究生有效地使用多模显微镜。

0923057DogicBrandeis U."This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."Technical Summary: This project aims to develop a multimode optical microscope which will simultaneously reveal the structure and dynamics of soft and biological materials from various perspectives and across multiple lengthscales. The proposed instrument will be centered around an inverted optical microscope and will have the following four mutually compatible modalities: (1) holographic optical tweezer based on an infrared laser, (2) epi-fluorescecence microscope capable of localizing single molecules with millisecond temporal resolution and nanometer spatial resolution, (3) quantitative polarization microscopy which will reveal either 2D birefringence maps at the highest spatial resolution attainable with visible light or 3D birefringence maps at a reduced spatial resolution and (4) dual view imaging. The new multimode microscope will be used to examine a broad range of soft and biological materials including self-assembled non-amphiphilic membranes whose formation is driven by chiral interactions, spontaneously oscillating eukaryotic flagella, dynamics and structure of semi-flexible polymers absorbed onto a hard wall and synthesis and expression of biopolymer collagen in vivo. The proposed instrument will be developed in a close collaboration between Brandeis University and Woods Hole Institute and the operation of the proposed instrument will be supported by the Brandeis MRSEC center. Special effort will be taken to develop a novel experimental course focused on optics and microscopy, which will enable undergraduate and graduate students to effectively use the multimode microscope. Layman Summary: Optical microscopy uses visible light to directly image the structure and dynamics of various soft materials such as paints, foams, gels and liquid crystals. Over the past few decades various specialized modalities of optical microscopy have been developed, with each modality revealing certain aspects of the material under examination. For example, brightfield microscopy reveals the structure and dynamics of entire micron sized assemblages, fluorescence microscopy yields the dynamics of individual components within such an assemblage, polarization microscopy indicates the orientation of molecules within any given structure and laser tweezers enable studies of how these assemblages respond to external force. So far most soft materials have been examined with either single or dual mode microscopes. This project aims to develop a novel multimode microscope which will enable simultaneous examination of materials with all four different modalities: brightfield microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, quantitative polarization microscopy and holographic laser tweezers. Special care will be taken to ensure that the performance of each module is not compromised by the presence of other modalities. Development of the multimode microscope will enable experiments that will correlate behavior of materials across multiple length scales and will thus provide essential insight into how collective properties of a material such as its equilibrium shape and elasticity arises from interactions of individual components. The proposed instrument will be developed in a close collaboration between Brandeis University and Woods Hole Institute and the operation of the proposed instrument will be supported by the Brandeis MRSEC center. Special effort will be taken to develop a novel experimental course focused on optics and microscopy, which will enable undergraduate and graduate students to effectively use the multimode microscope.