title: Axial super-resolution evanescent wave tomography.
abstract: Optical tomographic reconstruction of a three-dimensional (3D) nanoscale specimen is hindered by the axial diffraction limit, which is 2-3 times worse than the focal plane resolution. We propose and experimentally demonstrate an axial super-resolution evanescent wave tomography method that enables the use of regular evanescent wave microscopes like the total internal reflection fluorescence microscope beyond surface imaging and achieve a tomographic reconstruction with axial super-resolution. Our proposed method based on Fourier reconstruction achieves axial super-resolution by extracting information from multiple sets of 3D fluorescence images when the sample is illuminated by an evanescent wave. We propose a procedure to extract super-resolution features from the incremental penetration of an evanescent wave and support our theory by one-dimensional (along the optical axis) and 3D simulations. We validate our claims by experimentally demonstrating tomographic reconstruction of microtubules in HeLa cells with an axial resolution of ∼130  nm. Our method does not require any additional optical components or sample preparation. The proposed method can be combined with focal plane super-resolution techniques like stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy and can also be adapted for THz and microwave near-field tomography.
authors.forename: Sarang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pendharker
authors.forename: Swapnali
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shende
authors.forename: Ward
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ogg
authors.forename: Neda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nazemifard
authors.forename: Zubin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jacob