Design in a proper way, optical dielectric resonant multilayers can support huge optical field enhancement when working under total internal reflection. TIRFM - Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy, also based on total internal reflection illumination, is used in cell biology imaging where many biological processes involve cell membranes and their immediate intracellular spatial environment (signaling, cellular traffic, adhesion...). We propose to develop an enhanced version of TIRFM by investigating the optimization, conception and implementation of dedicated optical dielectric resonant multilayers as the glass coverslip replacement. Model samples such as lipid bilayers with a known thickness will be first investigated but our ultimate goal is to image more complex biological processes such as viral budding, or molecular transport mechanisms such as exocytosis or endocytosis.
|