Chapter 8
Super-Resolution Imaging in Raman
Microscopy
Katsumasa Fujita
Abstract Raman microscopy provides microscopic images of the sample with
chemical information as the contrast. Since Raman microscopy uses light–material
interactions associated with vibrational excitation of molecules, the spatial resolution of the microscope is limited to the half of the wavelength used to induce the
Raman effect. In this chapter, we introduce various attempts for breaking the limit of
the spatial resolution in Raman microscopy. Many of those techniques take similar
approaches as super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, where the control of excitation and emission of fluorescence is the key to break the limit. Since there are many
different types of Raman microscopy, such as spontaneous Raman scattering, coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, stimulated Raman scattering, and so on, various
approaches are proposed for spatio-temporal manipulation of the Raman effect in
micro- and nanometer scale. In this chapter, we categorize the approaches to realize
super-resolution Raman imaging based on their strategies for breaking the limit and
introduce the principles and the theoretical and experimental demonstrations of the
techniques.
8.1 Introduction
Microscopic observation has been one of the key processes in many scientific experiments. Among the different types of technique for observing micro- and nanometer
scale objects, optical microscopy has been utilized as a versatile technique that can
be used to observe many different kinds of samples under various conditions. However, the spatial resolution of optical microscopy has been limited to about half the
wavelength of light, which is often referred as the diffraction limit. The wave nature
of light prevents itself from being focused onto a size smaller than the half of the
wavelength. This fact has been used to explain the limitation of resolving power in
many different types of optical microscopes.
K. Fujita (B)
Department of Applied Physics, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
e-mail: fujita@ap.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
V. Astratov (ed.), Label-Free Super-Resolution Microscopy,
Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21722-8_8
195
Super-Resolution Imaging in Raman
Microscopy
Katsumasa Fujita
Abstract Raman microscopy provides microscopic images of the sample with
chemical information as the contrast. Since Raman microscopy uses light–material
interactions associated with vibrational excitation of molecules, the spatial resolution of the microscope is limited to the half of the wavelength used to induce the
Raman effect. In this chapter, we introduce various attempts for breaking the limit of
the spatial resolution in Raman microscopy. Many of those techniques take similar
approaches as super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, where the control of excitation and emission of fluorescence is the key to break the limit. Since there are many
different types of Raman microscopy, such as spontaneous Raman scattering, coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, stimulated Raman scattering, and so on, various
approaches are proposed for spatio-temporal manipulation of the Raman effect in
micro- and nanometer scale. In this chapter, we categorize the approaches to realize
super-resolution Raman imaging based on their strategies for breaking the limit and
introduce the principles and the theoretical and experimental demonstrations of the
techniques.
8.1 Introduction
Microscopic observation has been one of the key processes in many scientific experiments. Among the different types of technique for observing micro- and nanometer
scale objects, optical microscopy has been utilized as a versatile technique that can
be used to observe many different kinds of samples under various conditions. However, the spatial resolution of optical microscopy has been limited to about half the
wavelength of light, which is often referred as the diffraction limit. The wave nature
of light prevents itself from being focused onto a size smaller than the half of the
wavelength. This fact has been used to explain the limitation of resolving power in
many different types of optical microscopes.
K. Fujita (B)
Department of Applied Physics, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
e-mail: fujita@ap.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
V. Astratov (ed.), Label-Free Super-Resolution Microscopy,
Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21722-8_8
195