Plasmon Resonator Probe Microscope for Molecular Imaging

Optical microscopy is an important tool for investigations of biological structure and function inFar-field optics are restricted in resolution, however, to a physically defined limit of 200 nm. Invsubcellular organization and structure below this limit have required electron microscopy, which useand stained material. Recently, scanning probe microscopes have been used to produce three dimensionof the surface interactions of biological surfaces with the scanned probe tip. The force generated bsample fluctuates as a function of the elastic properties of the sample, providing nanometer resoluthas been marginally successful in imaging the soft surface environments of biological membranes andstructure ofsoft macromolecules. Our goal research is to provide nanometer resolution to the imagingderivatized structures and individual molecules in living cells. This will be accomplished through tproprietary probe technology for near-field microscopy. It is envisioned that unique instrumentationflexibility in the choice of imaging parameters for the nanometer range will be developed during Phamultiparametric microscope with nanometer resolution will be developed in Phase ll.