The world's first nanoscale optical microscope was successfully developed

Recently, researchers from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom have developed an advanced instrument that can use conventional white light to amplify small objects. This "microsphere nanometer microscope" can detect objects as small as 50 nanometers wide, which is beyond the limits of existing optical microscopes. Even 20 times smaller. Using this world's most powerful optical microscope, perhaps in the near future, scientists can directly observe the virus for the first time.

In theory, scientists can use microscopes to observe minute details inside cells and even see "live" viruses. One cold virus has a diameter of about 20 nanometers (10 million nanometers equals 1 centimeter). Electron microscopes use focused electron beams instead of light. They can see very small objects, but they also have their own limitations. They are either used to observe surface details or it is very thin on the sample, making it difficult to observe fine biological structures.

This new instrument uses "super lenses" instead of tiny "microspheres" (smaller spherical particles) to surpass the technical limitations of optical microscopes. Prof. Li Lin from the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester, together with colleagues from Singapore, carried out the project. He said: “(New instrument) Directly imaging with a light source in the spectral range, from the light microscope can observe the tiny degree of objects In fact, this instrument has already broken the world record. It can not only observe objects of 50 nanometer size, but we believe that this is only the beginning and it can observe far more than this. In theory, no matter how small the objects are We should all be able to observe."

Nowadays, the observation of tiny objects is usually done using an electron microscope, but you can only see the outside of the cell and the inside of the cell is inaccessible. However, the optical fluorescence microscope can indirectly observe the interior of the cell by staining the cells, but this staining is incapable of virus penetration. "The ability to directly observe cells without staining and to view live viruses directly will revolutionize the way we study cells. This allows us to carefully observe viruses and study biomedicine for the first time."