Scanning microsphere array optical microscope for efficient and large area super-resolution imaging

Dielectric microsphere based super-resolution imaging is a promising approach to overcome the diffraction limit of imaging in an optical microscope. So far, it still remains as a challenge to efficiently implement super-resolution imaging in a large area in a controlled manner. In this study, a home-designed imaging probe which consists of a microsphere array is applied to implement scanning of sample surfaces with an enhanced imaging resolution. The individually scanned images from different microspheres can then be stitched together to construct a large area super-resolution optical image. The experimental results show that the proposed method can correctly stitch together individually scanned images, leading to efficient and feasible super-resolution imaging in an imaging area of 195 µm × 150 µm.