Fundamentals of superresolution optical microscopy and Scanning Probe Microscopy

1. Spatial resolution of optical far-field microscopy. Light diffraction and Abbe criterion. Attempts to beat Abbe criterion in the frame of far-field optics: engineering of a pupil function, immersion microscopy, 4pi-microscopy, confocal microscopy and their limitations.

 

2. Ultramicroscopy: how to distinguish blue from red (not to mix this problem with the real optical resolution problem!). Its relation with Abbe criterion and modern implementation: Photoactivated Localization Microscopy (PALM), Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM).

 

Stimulation Emission Depletion (STED). Two-photon microscopy and SIM (structured-illumination microscopy).

 

3. Near-field optical microscopy and its modifications (aperture and apertureless approaches). General concept of Scanning Probe Microscopy, piezoelectric scanners. Peculiarities of scanning for SNOM (connection between fiber probe and tuning fork, shear force).

 

4. Scanning Tunneling Microscopy. Tunneling phenomenon, tunneling in 1D and 2D/3D cases. Field Electron/Ion Emission Microscopy.

 

5-6. Atomic Force microscopy and its modifications. AFM cantilevers, angular detection methods and their sensitivity. Contact and non-contact imaging modes. How to pass from 3D dithered beam to simple 1D oscillator when discussing AFM results.

 

7. Single molecule force spectroscopy. Bell-Evans model of the bond breaking under the action of a force. Parallel bonds and bonds in series.