Chapter 16
Theoretical Foundations of
Super-Resolution in Microspherical
Nanoscopy
Alexey V. Maslov and Vasily N. Astratov
Abstract A review of recent developments in the emerging area of imaging through
contact dielectric microspheres, which we term “microspherical nanoscopy”, is presented. The focus of this review is on the theoretical studies of the mechanisms
of super-resolution imaging, which represents a frontier of modern nanophotonics
and microscopy with many fascinating concepts proposed in recent years such as
photonic nanojets, far-field superlens, localized plasmonic structured illumination
microscopy (LPSIM), and coupling of emission of nanoscale objects to localized
surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) in underlying short-period plasmonic metasurfaces. In the first part, we review the main results of the classical imaging theory
based on rigorous solutions of the Maxwell equations for point-like sources. The
theory accurately describes the near-to-far-field conversion and resonant excitation
of whispering-gallery modes in such systems. The point spread functions are calculated and their width is compared with the experimental resolution in microspherical
imaging. In the second part, we consider various combinations of microspherical
nanoscopy with nanoplasmonics and plasmonic metasurfaces used for illumination
or coupling with nanoscale objects. These schemes exemplify the most advanced
ways of increasing the resolution far beyond the classical diffraction limit.
A. V. Maslov (B)
University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
e-mail: avmaslov@rf.unn.ru
V. N. Astratov
Department of Physics and Optical Science, Center for Optoelectronics and Optical
Communication, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223-0001, USA
e-mail: astratov@uncc.edu
© 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_16
407
Theoretical Foundations of
Super-Resolution in Microspherical
Nanoscopy
Alexey V. Maslov and Vasily N. Astratov
Abstract A review of recent developments in the emerging area of imaging through
contact dielectric microspheres, which we term “microspherical nanoscopy”, is presented. The focus of this review is on the theoretical studies of the mechanisms
of super-resolution imaging, which represents a frontier of modern nanophotonics
and microscopy with many fascinating concepts proposed in recent years such as
photonic nanojets, far-field superlens, localized plasmonic structured illumination
microscopy (LPSIM), and coupling of emission of nanoscale objects to localized
surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) in underlying short-period plasmonic metasurfaces. In the first part, we review the main results of the classical imaging theory
based on rigorous solutions of the Maxwell equations for point-like sources. The
theory accurately describes the near-to-far-field conversion and resonant excitation
of whispering-gallery modes in such systems. The point spread functions are calculated and their width is compared with the experimental resolution in microspherical
imaging. In the second part, we consider various combinations of microspherical
nanoscopy with nanoplasmonics and plasmonic metasurfaces used for illumination
or coupling with nanoscale objects. These schemes exemplify the most advanced
ways of increasing the resolution far beyond the classical diffraction limit.
A. V. Maslov (B)
University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
e-mail: avmaslov@rf.unn.ru
V. N. Astratov
Department of Physics and Optical Science, Center for Optoelectronics and Optical
Communication, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223-0001, USA
e-mail: astratov@uncc.edu
© 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_16
407