New optical microscope breaks the theoretical barriers of magnification

[bojan]

This is amazing:
http://www.photonicsonline.com/artic...ource=nl:30271

I am still not sure how it works - but it may have some impact on telescope design as well....

[CraigS]

Not sure ... but I'd guess it has something to do with the latest in Luneberg lens development …
Physicists craft Luneburg lens from silicon

Most practical lenses have aberrations, which means that their ability to focus light deteriorates when the incident light is off-axis. But in the Luneburg lens, proposed over 60 years ago, focusing is equally good wherever the light comes from.
…
the geometry of the lens waveguide creates an effective refractive index profile that varies from 1.4 to 2.8, focusing the beam to a spot 3770 nm in diameter.
For an ideal Luneburg lens, this focused spot would be half the wavelength, or some 800 nm – almost five times smaller than Leonhardt and colleagues' measured value.

Its all about achieving the best resolution possible .. and there's better resolution yet to come.

An amazing technological development !

Cheers

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

yes it looks pretty good, but I don't think it will solve astronomical magnification purely because the atmosphere causes so much problem.

[bojan]

Craig,
I don't think it is the same as Luneberg lens..
They are mentioning theoretical limits - and microscope magnification is limited by wavelength used (in other words, diffraction)..

[Kal (Andrew)]

Interesting.

I found this article which has some more information and some pictures showing the results of using the technology.

[CraigS]

Try this … Superlens.

Cheers