Abstract
Ernst Abbe derived his famous formula of diffraction limit in 1873. The implication of this formula is that resolution of light microscopy is limited, which is in the magnitude of half of the wavelength of the light used in microscope. With the advancement in information theory and fluorescence techniques, going beyond theoretical limit stated by Abbe became possible. These methods are known as ‘super-resolution microscopy’ and one of them is structured illumination microscopy(SIM).
The basic idea of SIM is similar to that of Moiré pattern. By overlapping two finely spaced patterns, a slowly varying pattern of large fringes can be observed, in analogous to sound beats. By constructing a known finely spaced pattern, and illuminate it onto an unknown finely spaced pattern, fine details of unknown pattern can be reconstructed from the overlapped pattern observed with computer algorithms. Our group would like to explore and design new interference light patterns by manipulating optics and investigate whether a better lateral and axial resolution could be achieved.
In this seminar I would present the background of SIM and the use of finite-difference-time-domain method (FDTD) to simulate light interference patterns.
Anyone interested is welcome to attend.