Dual-comb microscopy~Will optical frequency combs bring innovative advances to confocal microscopy?~

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19H00871
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 30:Applied physics and engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: The University of Tokushima
• Principal Investigator: YASUI Takeshi 徳島大学, ポストLEDフォトニクス研究所, 教授 (70314408)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 山本 裕紹 宇都宮大学, 工学部, 教授 (00284315) ; 南川 丈夫 徳島大学, ポストLEDフォトニクス研究所, 准教授 (10637193) ; 長谷 栄治 徳島大学, ポストLEDフォトニクス研究所, 特任助教 (50805512)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 光コム / 共焦点顕微鏡 / 蛍光寿命顕微鏡 / レーザー顕微鏡 / スキャンレス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Confocal microscopy, widely used for bioimaging and non-contact surface shape measurement, utilizes laser as the light source. Further advancements are sought for its expanded application areas, as performance improvements based on conventional methods alone have limitations. In this study, we introduced the state-of-the-art light source "optical comb" that is expected to be the next-generation laser. Instead of utilizing it as a "ruler of optical frequency" as done previously, we fully utilized its novel feature of "ultra-multi discrete channel nature" by combining wavelength/2D spatial conversion and dual optical comb measurements. This led to significant advancements in confocal microscopy, including scanless high-speed capability, full-field confocality, and dual image contrast of optical amplitude and phase.

Free Research Field

光工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

開発したデュアル光コム顕微鏡により、①表面形状測定（工業製品の微細化に必要なnmオーダーの深さ分解能）、②透明・非蛍光性サンプル計測（ガラス部品や生細胞などの透明・非蛍光性に帯するイメージ・コントラスト）、③細胞内部の時空間ダイナミクス観察（細胞内の分子や細胞小器官のダイナミックス対応可能な高速性）、といった事が可能になる。