Multimodal super-resolution nanoimaging & nanomanipulation of plasmonic nanoparticles

Fluorescence super-resolution imaging relies on fluorophores as contrast agents. As a result of the inevitable photobleaching and thus a limited photon budget, they put fundamental limitations on the temporal resolution. We propose non-bleaching, plasmonic nanoparticles as non-bleaching contrast agents with an unlimited photon budget such that both the temporal and spatial resolution can be pursued at the same time. We demonstrated a continuous observation of fine structural features in resolved actin networks. We believe the non-bleaching nanoscale imaging will open new doors for observing biological processes on a much longer timescales with higher spatial and temporal details.