No Arabic abstract
Localization of single fluorescent molecules is key for physicochemical and biophysical measurements such as single-molecule tracking and super-resolution imaging by single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM). Recently a series of methods have been developed in which the localization precision is enhanced by interrogating the molecular position with a sequence of spatially modulated patterns of light. Among them, the MINFLUX technique outstands for achieving a ~10-fold improvement compared to wide-field camera-based single-molecule localization, reaching ~1-2 nm localization precision at moderate photon counts. Here, we present a common mathematical framework for this type of measurement that allows a fair comparison between reported methods and facilitates the design and evaluation of new methods. With it, we benchmark all reported methods for single-molecule localization using sequential structured illumination, including long-established methods such as orbital tracking, along with two new proposed methods: orbital tracking and raster scanning with a minimum of intensity.
Video-rate super-resolution imaging through biological tissue can visualize and track biomolecule interplays and transportations inside cellular organisms. Structured illumination microscopy allows for wide-field super resolution observation of biological samples but is limited by the strong absorption and scattering of light by biological tissues, which degrades its imaging resolution. Here we report a photon upconversion scheme using lanthanide-doped nanoparticles for wide-field super-resolution imaging through the biological transparent window, featured by near-infrared and low-irradiance nonlinear structured illumination. We demonstrate that the 976 nm excitation and 800 nm up-converted emission can mitigate the aberration. We found that the nonlinear response of upconversion emissions from single nanoparticles can effectively generate the required high spatial frequency components in Fourier domain. These strategies lead to a new modality in microscopy with a resolution of 130 nm, 1/7th of the excitation wavelength, and a frame rate of 1 fps.
Zero-mode waveguides (ZMW) nanoapertures milled in metal films were proposed to improve the FRET efficiency and enable single molecule FRET detection beyond the 10 nm barrier, overcoming the restrictions of diffraction-limited detection in a homogeneous medium. However, the earlier ZMW demonstrations were limited to the Atto 550 - Atto 647N fluorophore pair, asking the question whether the FRET enhancement observation was an artefact related to this specific set of fluorescent dyes. Here, we use Alexa Fluor 546 and Alexa Fluor 647 to investigate single molecule FRET at large donor-acceptor separations exceeding 10 nm inside ZMWs. These Alexa fluorescent dyes feature a markedly different chemical structure, surface charge and hydrophobicity as compared to their Atto counterparts. Our single molecule data on Alexa 546 - Alexa 647 demonstrate enhanced FRET efficiencies at large separations exceeding 10 nm, extending the spatial range available for FRET and confirming the earlier conclusions. By showing that the FRET enhancement inside a ZMW does not depend on the set of fluorescent dyes, this report is an important step to establish the relevance of ZMWs to extend the sensitivity and detection range of FRET, while preserving its ability to work on regular fluorescent dye pairs.
Inspired by the capability of structured illumination microscopy in subwavelength imaging, many researchers devoted themselves to investigating this methodology. However, due to the free propagating feature of the traditional structured illumination fields, the resolution can be only improved up to double times compared with the diffractied limited microscopy. Besides, most of the previous studies, relying on incoherent illumination sources, are restricted to fluorescent samples. In this work, a subwavelength nonfluorescent imaging method is proposed based on the terahertz traveling wave and plasmonics illumination. Excited along with a metal grating, the spoof surface plasmons are employed as the plasmonics illumination. When the scattering waves with the SSPs illumination are captured, the high order spatial frequency components of the sample are already encoded into the obtainable low order ones. Then, an algorithm is summarized to shift the modulated SF components to their actual positions in the Fourier domain. In this manner, high order SF components carrying the fine information are introduced to reconstruct the desired imaging, leading to an improvement of the resolution up to 0.12 lambda. Encouragingly, the resolution can be further enhanced by tuning the working frequency of the SSPs. This method holds promise for some important applications in terahertz nonfluorescent microscopy and sample detection with weak scattering.
We propose to enhance the performance of localized plasmon structured illumination microscopy (LP-SIM) via intensity correlations. LP-SIM uses sub-wavelength illumination patterns to encode high spatial frequency information. It can enhance the resolution up to three-fold before gaps in the OTF support arise. For blinking fluorophores or for quantum antibunching an intensity correlation analysis induces higher harmonics of the illumination pattern and enlarges the effective OTF. This enables ultrahigh resolutions without gaps in the OTF support, and thus a fully deterministic imaging scheme. We present simulations that include shot and external noise and demonstrate the resolution power under realistic photon budgets. The technique has potential in light microscopy where low-intensity illumination is paramount while aiming for high spatial but moderate temporal resolutions.
Plasmonic nanoantennas allow for enhancing the spontaneous emission, altering the emission polarization, and shaping the radiation pattern of quantum emitters. A critical challenge for the experimental realizations is positioning a single emitter into the hotspot of a plasmonic antenna with nanoscale accuracy. We demonstrate a dynamic light-matter interaction nanosystem enabled by the DNA origami technique. A single fluorophore molecule can autonomously and unidirectionally walk into the hotspot of a plasmonic nanoantenna along a designated origami track. Successive fluorescence intensity increase and lifetime reduction are in situ monitored using single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy, while the fluorophore walker gradually approaches and eventually enters the plasmonic hotspot. Our scheme offers a dynamic platform, which can be used to develop functional materials, investigate intriguing light-matter interaction phenomena, and serve as prototype system for examining theoretical models.