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Chinese and British scientists create highest-resolution superlens
Zhang Tong in Beijing
Published: 9:01pm, 21 Aug, 2023
Conventional microscope lenses cannot produce proper images of the very smallest objects. Photo: Shutterstock
A team of Chinese and British scientists have created the highest-resolution optical imaging lens to date.
Since the 19th century, physicians have assumed that optical microscopes have a resolution limit beyond which they cannot see objects clearly.
When items are smaller than about 200 nanometers, such as some viruses, they become indistinguishable under an optical microscope.
But in 2000 the Imperial College London scientist John Pendry came up with the concept of a superlens that could get round this problem.
Superlenses, which are made of plasmonic materials that mix metals with other substances, can create images on a subwavelength scale.
“The ultimate goal of optical imaging technology is resolution. Superlenses broke this limit and astonished physicists. However, the mixed surface made with metal and electrolyte can cause severe optical loss and the problem has existed for 20 years,” said Zheng Guoxing, a Wuhan University professor who was not involved in the research.
In the latest study, an international team led by Professor Zhang Shuang from the University of Hong Kong and Professor Zhang Xiang, the university’s current president, along with Pendry and researchers from China’s National Nanoscience Centre, found a way to lower the resolution limit by an order of magnitude to tens of nanometres.
The team used a combination of multiple frequencies to virtually increase resolution and offset the optical loss of the superlens. Their work was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science on Saturday.
They used a mathematical formula to turn a complicated light wave into a mix of simpler waves and then used the information from these simpler waves to make up for losses in the image quality
In other words, it is like using different colours of the spectrum to create a new colour that can reveal more details than the original colours alone. By using this method, it is possible to obtain ultra-high resolution imaging.
Hong Kong Univeristy president Zhang Xiang was one of the scientists who worked on the project. Photo: May Tse
“We first proved this approach theoretically and then validated it with an experiment at microwave frequency. The imaging effect was highly consistent with our theoretical expectations,” Zhang Shuang told Science and Technology Daily.
Based on this, the team successfully designed a superlens and improved its imaging resolution by about an order of magnitude in the laboratory.
“This is a beautiful and universal method, usable across multiple optical frequencies, and extendable to other wave systems like sound waves, elastic waves and quantum waves to solve the loss problem,” Zhang Xiang told Science and Technology Daily report.
Ian S Osborne, the editor of Science, wrote in the journal that the technique “shows practical ways to overcome intrinsic losses in superlenses systems, offering potential for substantial improvements in imaging and sensing capabilities”.
The superlenses can be applied in various fields where high-resolution imaging is required, such as biomedicine, fibre optic communications and nanotechnology.
They can reveal features at a sub-wavelength scale that are not visible with conventional optical imaging techniques.
Zhang Tong
Tong earned his Bachelor's degree from Tianjin University and Master's degree from the University of Washington. His major was Chemical Engineering and Data Science. He used to work as an editor of academic journals. He is enthusiastic about news writing and finding stories behind scientific research
- New technique creates lens that can detect images that are just tens of nanometres in size, far beyond the limits of traditional microscopes
- The research was led by a team from the University of Hong Kong, along with China’s National Nanoscience Centre and British superlens pioneer John Pendry
Zhang Tong in Beijing
Published: 9:01pm, 21 Aug, 2023
Conventional microscope lenses cannot produce proper images of the very smallest objects. Photo: Shutterstock
A team of Chinese and British scientists have created the highest-resolution optical imaging lens to date.
Since the 19th century, physicians have assumed that optical microscopes have a resolution limit beyond which they cannot see objects clearly.
When items are smaller than about 200 nanometers, such as some viruses, they become indistinguishable under an optical microscope.
But in 2000 the Imperial College London scientist John Pendry came up with the concept of a superlens that could get round this problem.
Superlenses, which are made of plasmonic materials that mix metals with other substances, can create images on a subwavelength scale.
“The ultimate goal of optical imaging technology is resolution. Superlenses broke this limit and astonished physicists. However, the mixed surface made with metal and electrolyte can cause severe optical loss and the problem has existed for 20 years,” said Zheng Guoxing, a Wuhan University professor who was not involved in the research.
In the latest study, an international team led by Professor Zhang Shuang from the University of Hong Kong and Professor Zhang Xiang, the university’s current president, along with Pendry and researchers from China’s National Nanoscience Centre, found a way to lower the resolution limit by an order of magnitude to tens of nanometres.
The team used a combination of multiple frequencies to virtually increase resolution and offset the optical loss of the superlens. Their work was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science on Saturday.
They used a mathematical formula to turn a complicated light wave into a mix of simpler waves and then used the information from these simpler waves to make up for losses in the image quality
In other words, it is like using different colours of the spectrum to create a new colour that can reveal more details than the original colours alone. By using this method, it is possible to obtain ultra-high resolution imaging.
Hong Kong Univeristy president Zhang Xiang was one of the scientists who worked on the project. Photo: May Tse
“We first proved this approach theoretically and then validated it with an experiment at microwave frequency. The imaging effect was highly consistent with our theoretical expectations,” Zhang Shuang told Science and Technology Daily.
Based on this, the team successfully designed a superlens and improved its imaging resolution by about an order of magnitude in the laboratory.
“This is a beautiful and universal method, usable across multiple optical frequencies, and extendable to other wave systems like sound waves, elastic waves and quantum waves to solve the loss problem,” Zhang Xiang told Science and Technology Daily report.
Ian S Osborne, the editor of Science, wrote in the journal that the technique “shows practical ways to overcome intrinsic losses in superlenses systems, offering potential for substantial improvements in imaging and sensing capabilities”.
The superlenses can be applied in various fields where high-resolution imaging is required, such as biomedicine, fibre optic communications and nanotechnology.
They can reveal features at a sub-wavelength scale that are not visible with conventional optical imaging techniques.
Zhang Tong
Tong earned his Bachelor's degree from Tianjin University and Master's degree from the University of Washington. His major was Chemical Engineering and Data Science. He used to work as an editor of academic journals. He is enthusiastic about news writing and finding stories behind scientific research
