title: Surface-plasmon-coupled emission microscopy with a polarization converter.
abstract: Although surface-plasmon-coupled emission-based fluorescence microscopy proves high sensitivity for surface imaging, its donut shape point spread function (PSF) leads to low optical resolution and inefficient signal collection. In this Letter, we experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of solving this problem by the use of a liquid-crystal plate, which could convert the polarization state of surface-plasmon-coupled fluorescence from radial to linear. After being focused by the collection lens, an Airy disk-like PSF of small size can be realized. Experimental results reveal that both the lateral resolution and the signal-to-noise ratio can be enhanced simultaneously.
authors: Institute of Photonics, Department of Optics and Optical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors: Yikai
authors: Y
authors: Chen
authors: Douguo
authors: D
authors: Zhang
authors: Lu
authors: L
authors: Han
authors: Guanghao
authors: G
authors: Rui
authors: Xiangxian
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: Pei
authors: P
authors: Wang
authors: Hai
authors: H
authors: Ming