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Probing Biological Samples with Near-Field Optics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

Sarah A. Vickery ,
Christopher W. Hollars  and
Robert C. Dunn
Sarah A. Vickery
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045
Christopher W. Hollars
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045
Robert C. Dunn
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045
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Extract

Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is an emerging optical technique capable of probing samples at the nanometric level. With the NSOM technique, high spatial resolution is achieved by scanning a small light source (or collector) close to a sample surface. The light source is usually formed with special fiber optic probes that funnel light down to an aperture that is smaller than the optical wavelength. By positioning the aperture close to a sample, the emerging radiation is forced to interact with the sample before diffracting out. Therefore, the spatial resolution in NSOM is only limited by the size of the aperture and its proximity to the sample, and not the wavelength of the light as in conventional optical microscopy.

Recently, we have been using the single molecule detection limits combined with the unique nature of the electric fields present near the NSOM tip aperture to probe molecular level structure in model lipid membranes.

Type
Recent Advances in Light Microscopy
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 6 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis 2000, Microscopy Society of America 58th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 34th Annual Meeting, Microscopical Society of Canada/Societe de Microscopie de Canada 27th Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 13-17, 2000 , August 2000 , pp. 826 - 827
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

References:

1.Hollars, W. C. and Dunn, R. C, (2000) Probing Single Molecule Orientations in Model Lipid Membranes With Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscopy, J. Chem. Phys., in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Talley, C. E. and Dunn, R. C (1999) Single Molecules as Probes of Lipid Membrane Microenvironments, J. Phys. Chem., 103: 10214–10220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Vickery, S. A., Dunn, R. C, (1999) Scanning Near-Field FRET Microscopy, Biophysical Journal, 76: 1812–1818.CrossRefGoogle Scholar