Solid Immersion Facilitates Fluorescence Microscopy with Nanometer Resolution and Sub-Ångström Emitter Localization

1. Dominik Wildanger^1,*, 
2. Brian R. Patton²,
3. Heiko Schill¹, 
4. Luca Marseglia², 
5. J. P. Hadden², 
6. Sebastian Knauer², 
7. Andreas Schönle¹, 
8. John G. Rarity², 
9. Jeremy L. O'Brien², 
10. Stefan W. Hell^1,*, 
11. Jason M. Smith³

Article first published online: 12 SEP 2012

DOI: 10.1002/adma.201203033

Exploring the maximum spatial resolution achievable in far-field optical imaging, we show that applying solid immersion lenses (SIL) in stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy addresses single spins with a resolution down to 2.4 ± 0.3 nm and with a localization precision of 0.09 nm.