Abstract

Methods for super resolution microscopy such as stimulated emission-depletion microscopy (STED) are getting a lot of attention for their ability to image fluorescent samples in the far field with a spatial resolution better than 100nm[1]. Recently a method of tailoring the point-spread function in confocal laser scanning microscopy has been shown to reach similar resolutions for non-fluorescent samples using radially polarised cylindrical vector beams[2]. What most of these methods still have in common is the size and cost of the necessary components. We show that sub-wavelength gratings in Silicon and Silicon Nitride can reduce the beam shaping parts of these setups to micro scale passive devices.

© 2015 IEEE