%0 Journal Article
%T Tip induced fluorescence quenching for nanometer optical and topographical resolution
%A Olaf Schulz
%A Zhao Zhao
%A Alex Ward
%A Marcelle Koenig
%A Felix Koberling
%A Yan Liu
%A J rg Enderlein
%A Hao Yan and Robert Ros
%J Optical Nanoscopy
%D 2013
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/2192-2853-2-1
%X Progress in nanosciences and life sciences is closely related to developments of high resolution imaging techniques. We introduce a technique which produces correlated topography and fluorescence lifetime images with nanometer resolution. Spot sizes below 5 nm are achieved by quenching of the fluorescence with silicon probes of an atomic force microscope which is combined and synchronized with a confocal fluorescence lifetime microscope. Moreover, we demonstrate the ability to locate and resolve the position of two fluorescent molecules separated by 20.7 nm on a DNA origami triangle with 120 nm side length by correlating topography and fluorescence data. With this method, we anticipate applications in nano- and life sciences, such as the determination of the structure of macromolecular assemblies on surfaces, molecular interactions, as well as the structure and function of nanomaterials.
%U http://www.optnano.com/content/2/1/1/abstract