A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Axial super-resolution by mirror-reflected stimulated emission depletion microscopy
Authors: Takahiro Deguchi, Sami Koho, Tuomas Näreoja, Pekka Hänninen
Publication year: 2014
Journal: Optical Review
Volume: 21
Issue: 3
First page : 389
Last page: 394
Number of pages: 6
ISSN: 1340-6000
eISSN: 1349-9432
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10043-014-0060-7
In stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, the lateral resolution is in the range of tens of nanometers depending on the sample and the instrument. The axial resolution, however, is in standard systems limited by diffraction to about 500 nm. We present an approach to three-dimensional diffraction-unlimited resolution by observing the sample at two optical angles. The system is realized by using an atomic force microscope (AFM) chip as a microreflector to deflect the STED beams near the region-of-interest (ROI), thus allowing observations at an angle ∠. Consequently, the superior lateral resolution can be utilized to resolve details in the axial direction of the main optical axis of the microscope. Here, fluorescent nanoparticles 90 nm apart and biological structures 80 nm apart along axial direction were distinguished by utilizing an off-the-shelf, commercial STED microscope, coupled with an AFM and an AFM chip micro-reflector.