DEVICE AND METHOD FOR NANOPARTICLE SIZING BASED ON TIME-RESOLVED ON-CHIP MICROSCOPY

摘要

A method for the label-free sizing of small, nanometer-sized objects such as particles includes a hand-held, portable holographic microscope that incorporates vapor condensation of nanolenses and time-resolved lens-free imaging. The portable device is used to generate reconstructed, time-resolved, and automatically-focused phase images of the sample field-of-view. The peak phase value for each object a function of working distance (z₂) and condensation time (t) is used to measure object size. The sizing accuracy has been quantified in both monodisperse and heterogeneous particle solutions, achieving an accuracy of +/−11 nm for particles that range from 40 nm up to 500 nm. For larger particles, the technique still works while the accuracy roughly scales with particle size.