Optical microscopy using a single-molecule light source

J. Michaelis, C. Hettich, J. Mlynek and V. Sandoghdar ()
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J. Michaelis: Fachbereich Physik and Optik-Zentrum Konstanz, Universität Konstanz, Fach M696
C. Hettich: Fachbereich Physik and Optik-Zentrum Konstanz, Universität Konstanz, Fach M696
J. Mlynek: Fachbereich Physik and Optik-Zentrum Konstanz, Universität Konstanz, Fach M696
V. Sandoghdar: Fachbereich Physik and Optik-Zentrum Konstanz, Universität Konstanz, Fach M696

Nature, 2000, vol. 405, issue 6784, 325-328

Abstract: Abstract Rapid progress in science on nanoscopic scales has promoted increasing interest in techniques of ultrahigh-resolution optical microscopy. The diffraction limit can be surpassed by illuminating an object in the near field through a sub-wavelength aperture at the end of a sharp metallic probe1,2. Proposed modifications3,4 of this technique involve replacing the physical aperture by a nanoscopic active light source. Advances in the spatial5 and spectral6 detection of individual fluorescent molecules, using near-field and far-field methods7, suggest the possibility of using a single molecule8,9 as the illumination source. Here we present optical images taken with a single molecule as a point-like source of illumination, by combining fluorescence excitation spectroscopy10 with shear-force microscopy11. Our single-molecule probe has potential for achieving molecular resolution in optical microscopy; it should also facilitate controlled studies of nanometre-scale phenomena (such as resonant energy transfer) with improved lateral and axial spatial resolution.

Date: 2000
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DOI: 10.1038/35012545

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