Nanometer scale marker for fluorescent microscopy
- National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Photonics Research Institute, 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda-shi 563-8577 (Japan)
To establish a calibration method of optical performance in fluorescence microscopy, we fabricated a fluorescent nanometer-scale marker by combining a dry dye method for polymer film and fine lithography. The marker has a 50 nm line-and-space fluorescent pattern, finer than the optical diffraction limit. A spin-coated poly(methyl methacrylate) thin film on a silicon wafer was densely doped with Rhodamine 6G using a simple vacuum process, named the vapor-transportation method, and then the pattern was formed on the film using electron-beam lithography. The figure accuracy of the fabricated marker was calibrated by electron microscopes. Using this marker, one can quantitatively evaluate the optical properties; i.e., the contrast-transfer function, the point-spread function, magnification, and so on. To show practical use of the marker, we demonstrated the evaluation of a fluorescent microscope system.
- OSTI ID:
- 20722965
- Journal Information:
- Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 76, Issue 7; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.1946627; (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Aberration-Corrected Electron Beam Lithography at the One Nanometer Length Scale
Single-Digit Nanometer Electron-Beam Lithography with an Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope