microsphere-based nanoscopy

[Mackenzie Cowell]

This is an amazing and DIY-friendly sounding technique to image features smaller than diffraction limit of visible light: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/microsphere-nanoscope/.

Apparently it's hard to reproduce.  I want to try it.  I have access to a basic optical microscope.  Anyone else interested in trying to (dis)prove the technique?

Paper: http://www.scribd.com/doc/50038593/ncomms1211

Cheers

Mac

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+1.231.313.9062 / m...@diybio.org / @100ideas

[Dakota Hamill]

That's awesome.  I wonder if you could get little micro-spheres of another material and use those with an SEM to increase an SEM max resolution, just like these increased an optical microscopes max resolution...just blew my own mind. 

 Even though I just realized that wouldn't work with electrons.  Oh well it was a good idea for 10 seconds.

That'd be neat to try out.  It looks like they made their own silica micro-spheres.  On a side note, my senior research is on building those silica micro-spheres, only I am trying to get a ferrite core in the middle of mine so they are magnetically susceptible.

Not trying to steal the limelight, but here is a video from the lab who's paper I am trying to reproduce.  Magnetochromatic microspheres.  It's neat!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKsgzk5quZU

Anyway, If I ever actually get GOOD at making consistently sized micro-sphere's I'll bring them into sprout.  My chemicals just came in this week actually, I need to get working on trying to make some.  They were using 2-9 micrometer spheres, and the papers I've been reading they become Bragg Reflectors at 70-150 or so is optimal size.  perhaps the ferrite core makes up a larger portion of that...who knows.  Won't know until we try.  

-Dakota

[Nathan McCorkle]

I've used these guys for spheres before, they have good customer service too:
http://www.bangslabs.com/products/uniform_silica_microspheres

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Nathan McCorkle
Rochester Institute of Technology
College of Science, Biotechnology/Bioinformatics

[Nathan McCorkle]

I just saw that bangslabs is where paper you listed got their spheres.

[Dakota Hamill]

My bad I thought they made them themselves.  My Ctr+F keywords didn't pick up their buyer.  $100+ per 0.5g of tiny round balls of sand, who would have thunk it.

Nathan what did you use your spheres for?  Are you a student at RIT or employee?  I wonder if you know two of my friends, one goes there, one left to xfer to Northeastern.

[Nathan McCorkle]

I am writing particle tracking software to operate on these particles
in a fluid flow... bangs sells beads with coupling kits so you can
hook up carbs protein and nucleic acids... I have only used their PS
fluoro beads tho.

[Simon Quellen Field]

You'll want SiO2 spheres in the 3 to 10 micrometer range,

and a transparent test subject.

In the article, they get their microshperes from Bangs Laboratories:

"http://www.bangslabs.com".

They made their own test objects, but you can get diffraction gratings from

Edmund Scientific, or play with butterfly wings or something else with fine

detail. Perhaps a Blu-Ray DVD with the metal etched off.

I have found that I get better results if I grind off nearly half the sphere:

"http://light.sci-toys.com/lenses"

The flat side goes towards the subject, and collects more light, thus increasing

the numerical aperture.

Of course, my lenses are a little bigger than 4.74 microns, but it seems to me you
could get the same result using tiny drops of mineral oil, perhaps by using a human
hair as a drop former (dip the hair in oil, touch it to the surface, look through
the scope at it). Much easier than spheres, and you get to place them where you
wish, instead of relying on them to "self-assemble" in the right place.

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[Nathan McCorkle]

or maybe agar/alginate:

http://willpowder.net/sodiumAlginate.html
http://www.eatfoo.com/archives/2007/12/recipes_more_spherification_wi.php
http://michaellaiskonis.typepad.com/main/files/raspberry_pearls.pdf

have some sort of micro-pump making droplets for you???

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