Plasmon Superlens Microscope
Prof. Christopher C. Davis
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| Dr. Christopher Davis |
Prof. Christopher Davis and his research team have developed a powerful, nanoscale microscope using advanced applications of plasmon technology. The researchers use plasmons—electron waves generated when light strikes a metallic surface—to help reveal fine, nano-scale details that were previously undetectable. The team has integrated the plasmon superlens into a conventional optical microscope to image objects smaller than the limit determined by the diffraction of light waves.
The invention is a powerful superlens with concentric rings of acrylic glass on a gold film surface, using advanced applications of plasmon technology. The lens can be used to see objects on the scale of small viruses. The research team's two-dimensional plasmon microscope is ideal for imaging living cells, and could operate much like a point-and-shoot camera. The group believes they can improve the resolution of their microscope images down to around 10 nanometers. The width of a human hair is approximately 80,000 nanometers.
The research was published in the journal Science and Physical Review Letters, was featured in DISCOVER magazine's top 100 science stories of 2007, and has received attention from many other science and technology publications.
You can read more about the invention here:
http://www.ece.umd.edu/news/news_story.php?id=2846
http://www.ece.umd.edu/News/news_story.php?id=1967
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/315/5819/1699
 return to spotlight on research
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