Custom Adapter For Extended Field-Of-View Microsphere-Based Scanning Super-Resolution Microscopy

We present a dielectric microsphere-based super resolution optical microscope that can image a sample beyond the classical diffraction limit [1]. The super resolution imaging capability of a single microsphere normally is restricted to an area of similar to 10 mu m(2), which essentially is the area of close contact of the microsphere with the sample. By fixing the microsphere to a microscope objective via a glass-based template chip and a custom adapter, we perform automated step-by-step scanning and imaging of the sample. Later, the generated image set is stitched into a single wide-field super resolution image using a dedicated algorithm. Furthermore, we propose the parallel use of microspheres, thereby enabling faster scanning or bigger sample areas to be imaged.