Next Big Future: Optical superlens resolves 30 nanometers, 1/12th the Wavelength of light
GoatGuy
· 6 months ago
Wonderful physics.
I think however that the lenses are presently "scanned" across the surface in order to accumulate the image. Not suitable for microscopes. It is also not apparent whether the claim of long-field imaging holds: it may also be a scanned mechanism.
On the other hand, if the imaging superlens only needed to be jogged a few nanometers in a rectangular raster, then it should be possible to do so at speeds approaching "frames per second" rates using piezoelectric positioners. Most lab microscopy need not be much faster than this, and oft-times much much slower is just fine. Microbio friends confirmed in conversing that they would be overjoyed with a deep-submicron optical imaging microscope that could produce a clear image in less than a minute. Especially if the "hi res" was a "button press" feature on what otherwise would be a regular scope. Or even "buttonless" - where moving the sample around would accumulate low-res images, and then when left stationary ... the high res would automatically begin to accumulate.
Sounds pretty useful to me.
GoatGuy
pamelae13rideout
· 5 months ago
This issue's makeover is a good example. True, the advertiser — GE — is one of the oldest and best-known brands in marketing history. But while both the ad and my makeover display the company's logo and slogan, “Imagination at Work,” even GE must have realized that kitchen appliances are so far removed from caulking that the brand alone would not likely carry much weight with consumers when it introduced its new product, Caulk Singles. So prior to the launch GE took the trouble to widely distribute free samples, then set up an online blog where www.geonlineservice.com sample recipients could record their experiences.
All Comments
I think however that the lenses are presently "scanned" across the surface in order to accumulate the image. Not suitable for microscopes. It is also not apparent whether the claim of long-field imaging holds: it may also be a scanned mechanism.
On the other hand, if the imaging superlens only needed to be jogged a few nanometers in a rectangular raster, then it should be possible to do so at speeds approaching "frames per second" rates using piezoelectric positioners. Most lab microscopy need not be much faster than this, and oft-times much much slower is just fine. Microbio friends confirmed in conversing that they would be overjoyed with a deep-submicron optical imaging microscope that could produce a clear image in less than a minute. Especially if the "hi res" was a "button press" feature on what otherwise would be a regular scope. Or even "buttonless" - where moving the sample around would accumulate low-res images, and then when left stationary ... the high res would automatically begin to accumulate.
Sounds pretty useful to me.
GoatGuy