title: Evaluation of lateral resolution of scanning surface microscopy by total internal reflection with thermal lens effect.
abstract: We have developed a novel method for in situ and non-destructive surface analyses, or a total internal reflection with thermal lens spectroscopy (TIR-TLS), which has sufficient sensitivity to monitor phenomena in thin films, such as lipid bilayers. In this study, we applied TIR-TLS to microscopy for surface analyses, and we experimentally obtained its lateral resolution using the edge of a chromium film made by a photolithography technique. The obtained resolution was 20 microm, which was 60% of the diameter of an excitation beam at the interface. The estimated resolution with a simple model agreed with the experimental one, and from this model, TIR-TLS microscopy has the same resolution as that of ordinary optical microscopy. The microscopy by TIR-TLS was applied to a sample whose contrast was too weak to be visually seen, and an image of the sample was obtained without any loss of resolution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 Minamiosawa, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan. shimosaka-takuya@c.metro-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimosaka
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Izako
authors.forename: Katsumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uchiyama
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hobo