title: Surface-plasmon-coupled emission microscopy with a spiral phase plate.
abstract: The surface plasmon-coupled emission microscope provides high sensitivity for surface imaging. However, it suffers from a distorted donut-shape point-spread function (PSF). Here we report an effective yet simple method to correct for the distortion by introducing a spiral phase plate. This modification converts the donut PSF into one that is single lobed, which is preferable for imaging. The optical performance of the system is characterized and compared with previous publications. This technique provides more than twofold lateral resolution enhancement.
authors.affiliation: Computation and Systems Biology, Singapore-MIT Alliance, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3,Singapore 117576, Singapore.
authors.forename: Wai Teng
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Euiheon
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Yang-Hyo
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Peter T C
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: So
authors.forename: Colin J R
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Sheppard
mesh_terms: D008027:Light; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D055620:Optical Phenomena