Microsphere super-resolution imaging¹

Recently, it was discovered that microsphere can generate super-resolution focusing beyond diffraction limit. This has led to the development of an exciting super-resolution imaging technique – microsphere nanoscopy – that features a record resolution of 50 nm under white lights. Different samples have been directly imaged in high resolution and real time without labelling, including both non-biological (nano devices, structures and materials) and biological (subcellular details, viruses) samples. This chapter reviews the technique, which covers its background, fundamentals, experiments, mechanisms as well as the future outlook.