February 8, 2025

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New microscope technology sharpens … – Information Centre – Research & Innovation

EU-funded scientists have utilized quantum physics to acquire an optical microscope that opens up the prospective to perspective the tiniest of objects – which includes many viruses – instantly for the 1st time.


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© SUPERTWIN Venture, 2016

Conventional optical microscopes, which use light as their source of illumination, have hit a barrier, acknowledged as the Rayleigh limit. Established by the guidelines of physics, this is the point at which the diffraction of light blurs the resolution of the image.
Equivalent to all around 250 nanometres – established by fifty percent the wavelength of a photon – the Rayleigh limit implies that anything more compact than this cannot be seen instantly.

The EU-funded SUPERTWIN project’s objective was to build a new generation of microscopes able of resolving imaging below this limit by producing use of quantum physics. The know-how resulting from this FET Open investigation task could a single day be used to perspective the tiniest of samples – which includes many viruses – instantly and in depth.

Despite the fact that direct results will not be measurable for some time, the SUPERTWIN group hope that refinement of their platform will result in novel tools for imaging and microscopy, delivering new scientific findings with a massive societal effect in fields such as biology and medication.

‘The SUPERTWIN task reached a 1st proof of imaging further than classical boundaries, thanks to three key improvements,’ suggests task coordinator Matteo Perenzoni of the Bruno Kessler Basis in Italy.

‘First, there is the deep knowing of the underlying quantum optics via novel principle and experiments next, sophisticated laser fabrication know-how is blended with a intelligent structure and thirdly, there is the particularly tailor-made architecture of the single-photon detectors.’

Exploiting entanglement

Less than distinct disorders, it is possible to make particles of light – photons – that come to be a single and the very same issue, even if they are in distinct areas. This unusual, quantum result is acknowledged as entanglement.

Entangled photons have far more facts than single photons, and SUPERTWIN scientists capitalised on that ‘extra’ facts-carrying capability to go further than the classical boundaries of optical microscopes.

In the new prototype, the sample to be viewed is illuminated by a stream of entangled photons. The facts these photons have about the sample is extracted mathematically and instantly pieced again collectively, like a jigsaw puzzle. The closing image resolution can be as small as 41 nanometres – 5 moments further than the Rayleigh limit.

To obtain their best intention, the task group had to make several breakthroughs, which includes the development of a good-point out emitter of entangled photons which is ready to make extreme and ultrashort pulses of light.

The scientists also created a large-resolution quantum image sensor able of detecting entangled photons.
The 3rd key breakthrough was a info-processing algorithm that took facts about the place of entangled photons to make the image.

A single of the project’s greatest worries – nevertheless to be entirely solved – was in analyzing the form and diploma of entanglement. By carrying out additional experiments, the group made a new theoretical framework to demonstrate the atom-scale dynamics of generating entangled photons.

Looking to the future

‘Several follow-ups to the SUPERTWIN task are beneath way,’ suggests Perenzoni. ‘The good-point out source of non-classical light and tremendous-resolution microscope demonstrators will be used in the ongoing PHOG task, and they are also anticipated to pave the way to a future task proposal.

‘The prospective of our quantum image sensor is presently staying explored in the GAMMACAM task, which aims to acquire a digicam exploiting its capacity to movie person photons.’

The FET Open programme supports early-phase science and know-how scientists in fostering novel ides and checking out radically new future technologies.