Analysis of deep sub-micron resolution in microsphere based imaging

Abstract

Based on full wave simulations, ∼0.3 λ and ∼0.24 λ imaging resolutions can be achieved for incoherent transverse and longitudinal point dipoles, respectively, when the dipoles are on an aluminum oxide base with a fused silica microsphere as the imaging lens. These high spatial resolutions (better than 0.5 λ) can be attributed to almost 90° light acceptance angle of the microsphere and the solid immersion effects from the microsphere/base material. These simulation results can explain the ≳0.3 λ and ≳0.24 λ minimum resolvable center to center separation distance for thin metallic nanostructures and elongated metallic nanostructures, respectively, which is equal to ≳0.1–0.14 λ edge to edge distance observed in previous microsphere imaging experiments.

Super‐resolution microscopy by movable thin‐films with embedded microspheres: Resolution analysis

“…Based on a solid‐immersion concept ( n o ≈ n s ), the maximal diffraction‐limited resolution available for high‐index ( n s ∼ 2.0) barium titanate glass (BTG) microspheres can be estimated as ∼ λ /4. This estimation is consistent with the calculations of focusing and imaging properties of mesoscale spheres.…”

Super-Resolution Imaging and Microscopy by Dielectric Particle-Lenses

“…Sundaram and co-workers performed imaging analysis using full-wave FEM simulation of the light propagation from the target through a microsphere, an objective lens and then to the imaging plane, as shown in Fig. 5 [45]. The results show that longitudinally polarized dipole can achieve better resolution than transverse dipole ( Fig.…”

Experimental far-field imaging properties of high refractive index microsphere lens

“…Many novel optical properties of a microsphere lens such as photonic nanojets [1][2][3], whisper gallery modes [4], Poynting field [5,6], light compression [7], and super-resolution imaging [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] have been observed. Microsphere-assisted microscopy is a simple and effective approach to obtain super-resolution imaging.…”