Researchers at Leibniz IPHT have made significant advances in deciphering tiny nano-objects. Using special optical fibers, they identified a new optical mode that enables uniform illumination along the entire length of a fiber and determined the resolution limit of individual objects that could be measured with fibers. They thus lay the foundation for observing nanoparticles with unprecedented precision. The results of their studies were published in the journals Optica and Nature Communications.
The concept of single antiresonant-element fiber-assisted nanoparticle-tracking analysis applied to track sub-10-nm nano-objects. a Sketch of the methodology. An example of tracking such small nanoparticles with FaNTA can be seen in the images to the right. b Example of a selected frame showing 9 nm gold NPs diffusing inside the antiresonant element. c Processed image showing the localization of the NPs . d Corresponding measured trajectory of several tracked nanoparticles.
Generating such light intensities in optical fibers requires sophisticated nanostructuring in the form of liquid-filled nanochannels in the fiber core, which can be used for real-time detection and counting of nano-objects.
The fiber was manufactured by the company Heraeus Conamic. When light is coupled into the fiber, it spreads evenly along the integrated fluid channel in the form of a strand. As a result, the sample to be examined, including the nano-objects contained therein, can be illuminated intensively and extremely homogeneously. The light scattered by individual nanoparticles allows the dynamics of the particle objects to be observed with high precision.
"The light strand shaped by the microstructured fiber design enables an unprecedented uniform illumination with constant high light intensity in optofluidic fibers, allowing extremely long and even more precise tracking of tiny objects. In this way, we prevent the intensity variations of light that typically occur at the outer edge of a nanochannel. This allows us to detect even the smallest nanoparticles consistently and thus achieve very high measurement accuracy," explains Prof. Dr.
The knowledge gained contributes to the optimization of the FaNTA method in the detection of the smallest nano-objects. For example, rapidly diffusing particles in the
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