Optometry for a short-sighted microscope

Carine Julien (1, 2) , Martin Oheim (1)

1 SPPIN - UMR 8003 - Saints-Pères Paris Institute for Neurosciences
2 PPSM - Photophysique et Photochimie Supramoléculaires et Macromoléculaires

Evanescent-wave scattering is a topic in classical electrodynamics and in the study of colloidal particles near a boundary. However, how such near-surface scattering at subcellular refractive-index heterogeneities degrades the excitation confinement in biological total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy has not been well studied. An elegant theoretical work by Axelrod and Axelrod now addresses this very relevant question and reveals that-even when scattered-evanescent light preserves some of its surprising optical properties.

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]; Optique / photonique

Carine Julien, Martin Oheim. Optometry for a short-sighted microscope. Biophysical Journal, 2021, 120 (20), pp.4301-4304. ⟨10.1016/j.bpj.2021.09.011⟩. ⟨hal-03879382⟩