Subwavelength imaging through ion-beam-induced upconversion.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 26560858.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms9832 and PMC identifier 4660043.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The combination of an optical microscope and a luminescent probe plays a pivotal role in biological imaging because it allows for probing subcellular structures. However, the optical resolutions are largely constrained by Abbe's diffraction limit, and the common dye probes often suffer from photobleaching. Here we present a new method for subwavelength imaging by combining lanthanide-doped upconversion nanocrystals with the ionoluminescence imaging technique. We experimentally observed that the ion beam can be used as a new form of excitation source to induce photon upconversion in lanthanide-doped nanocrystals. This approach enables luminescence imaging and simultaneous mapping of cellular structures with a spatial resolution of sub-30 nm.