University of Twente’s new lens reveals the sub-100nm level with visible light

Small is beautiful , but only when you can see it. Specifically, we’re talking about nanostructures — including cellular organelles and nanoelectronic circuits — around the order of 100nm. The problem is with a microscope , visible light only takes us down to a resolution of 200nm at best, and it’s not always ideal to use conventional methods to boost the resolution — you’d either have to dope the subject with fluorescent dye or use highly delicate equipment. Thankfully, the University of Twente has come up with a new type of lens that would solve this problem: in a nutshell, a nanoparticle is placed on one side of the gallium phosphide lens, while the other side — disorderedly etched with acid — takes in a precisely modulated laser beam and scatters it into a focal point of your choice. Sure, this sounds bizarre and ironic, but apparently the modulation is controlled in such a way that the scattered beam focuses much tighter than an ordinary beam would using an ordinary lens. Have a look at the comparison shots of some gold nanoparticles after the break — that’s some sweet 97nm resolution right there for ya. Continue reading University of Twente’s new lens reveals the sub-100nm level with visible light University of Twente’s new lens reveals the sub-100nm level with visible light originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 23:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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