CN106154531A - Microsphere manipulation device based on optical fiber and micro imaging system, fiber fabrication methods - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a microsphere manipulating device and a microscopic imaging system based on an optical fiber. The microsphere manipulating device includes a laser, an optical fiber beam splitter and a plurality of optical fibers; An optical fiber at least includes two optical fibers oppositely arranged along the first direction and with the microsphere sample as the center; the optical fiber has a tapered tail end, and the tail end of each optical fiber is facing the microsphere sample; the laser is connected with the optical fiber beam splitter, and the optical fiber The output ends of the beam splitter are respectively connected to the optical fibers correspondingly. The optical fiber-based microsphere manipulator and microscopic imaging system of the present invention realizes the use of light beams to control the movement of microspheres, avoids the formation of imaging blind areas during scanning imaging, and ensures imaging of the entire area of a sample. The invention also provides an optical fiber manufacturing method.

Description

Optical fiber-based microsphere manipulation device, microscopic imaging system, and optical fiber manufacturing method

technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of microscopic imaging, in particular to an optical fiber-based microsphere manipulation device and a microscopic imaging system. The invention also relates to an optical fiber manufacturing method.

Background technique

With the development of modern biology and material science, higher and higher imaging resolution is required in the study of microstructure. Scientists hope to reveal the physical essence of life processes and material properties from the molecular level.

For ordinary optical microscopes, due to the limitation of the optical diffraction limit, its lateral resolution is limited to more than 200nm, which is far from meeting the requirements for studying deep subwavelength structures or cell structures. In order to break through the limitation of the diffraction limit, researchers from all over the world have carried out in-depth research on this. Among them, the most typical methods include stimulated emission loss microscopy, structured illumination microscopy, and random light field reconstruction microscopy. However, most of these methods are based on the subsequent processing of complex data, and there are problems such as complex systems, high prices, and low efficiency, and cannot be widely applied.

The super-resolution imaging technology based on the microsphere nanocone effect was first proposed by the research team of the University of Manchester in 2011. This technology uses a white light illumination source to excite the sample to generate evanescent waves, and uses micron-scale microspheres to couple the evanescent waves. Space amplification is performed to generate an enlarged virtual image, and then secondary imaging is performed on the virtual image to obtain a super-resolution microscopic image of the sample surface, realizing far-field super-resolution microscopic imaging based on white light wide-field illumination. Based on its simple system structure, high efficiency, low cost and other advantages, this technology has attracted widespread attention.

At present, in the super-resolution microscopy imaging technology using microspheres, since the microspheres cannot move during the scanning imaging process, only the area around the position of the microspheres can be imaged, and an imaging blind area will be formed at the position of the microspheres, resulting in The full area of the sample cannot be imaged.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a microsphere manipulator and microscopic imaging system based on optical fiber, which realizes the use of light beams to manipulate the movement of microspheres, avoids the formation of imaging blind spots during scanning imaging, and ensures imaging of the entire area of the sample. The invention also provides an optical fiber manufacturing method.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

A fiber optic-based microsphere manipulation device comprising a laser, a fiber optic beam splitter, and a plurality of optical fibers;

The multiple optical fibers are arranged in the plane where the microsphere sample is located, and the multiple optical fibers include at least two optical fibers oppositely arranged along the first direction and centered on the microsphere sample;

The optical fiber has a tapered tail end, and the tail end of each optical fiber is facing the microsphere sample;

The laser is connected to the optical fiber splitter, and the output ends of the optical fiber splitter are respectively connected to the optical fibers correspondingly.

Optionally, the plurality of optical fibers further includes at least two optical fibers oppositely disposed along the second direction and centered on the microsphere sample.

Optionally, the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction.

Optionally, a micro-displacement manipulator is also included, and the optical fiber is fixed by the micro-displacement manipulator.

Optionally, it also includes a capillary glass tube arranged in the fixing area between the optical fiber and the micro-displacement manipulator.

Optionally, an optical power meter connected to an output end of the optical fiber splitter and used for detecting optical power is also included.

A microscopic imaging system comprising:

Optical microscopes including objectives and eyepieces;

The microsphere manipulation device as described above, wherein the plurality of optical fibers of the microsphere manipulation device are correspondingly arranged in the sample area of the stage;

A photoelectric imaging device arranged on the eyepiece side of the optical microscope;

A computer connected to the photoelectric imaging device.

A method of making an optical fiber, comprising:

In the middle area of a single optical fiber, the protective layer of a section of the optical fiber is stripped;

Fix the two ends of the optical fiber, heat the section where the protective layer is stripped, and apply axial tension to the two ends of the optical fiber at the same time until the optical fiber is broken, and the broken end of the optical fiber is used as the tail end .

Optionally, after stripping the protective layer of a section of the optical fiber, the method further includes: cleaning the cladding of the optical fiber section from which the protective layer is stripped with alcohol cotton;

After said breaking the optical fiber, the method further includes: cleaning the formed optical fiber tail end with alcohol cotton.

Optionally, the fixing the two ends of the optical fiber specifically includes: respectively fixing the two ends of the optical fiber in movable V-shaped grooves;

The applying an axial pulling force at both ends of the optical fiber specifically includes: applying an axial pulling force to both ends of the optical fiber through the V-shaped groove.

It can be seen from the above technical solutions that the present invention provides an optical fiber-based microsphere manipulation device and a microscopic imaging system. The microsphere manipulation device includes a laser, an optical fiber beam splitter and a plurality of optical fibers. A plurality of optical fibers are arranged in the plane where the microsphere sample is located, including at least two optical fibers oppositely arranged along the first direction and centered on the microsphere sample, and the tapered end of each optical fiber faces the microsphere sample. The output light from the fiber irradiates the microsphere sample, part of the light is reflected, and the other part is refracted. The change of the beam direction changes the momentum of the light. Based on the principle of momentum conservation, the momentum of the microsphere will change accordingly, so as to realize the movement of the microsphere .

Therefore, the optical fiber-based microsphere manipulation device and microscopic imaging system of the present invention realizes the use of light beams to manipulate the movement of the microspheres, avoids the formation of imaging blind spots during scanning and imaging, and can obtain imaging of the entire area of the sample.

Description of drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings that need to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only These are some embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative work.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of optical fibers in an optical fiber-based microsphere manipulation device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a flow chart of an optical fiber manufacturing method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a microscopic imaging system provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions in the present invention, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described The embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of them. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skill in the art without making creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an optical fiber-based microsphere manipulation device, including a laser, an optical fiber beam splitter, and a plurality of optical fibers;

The multiple optical fibers are arranged in the plane where the microsphere sample is located, and the multiple optical fibers include at least two optical fibers oppositely arranged along the first direction and centered on the microsphere sample;

The optical fiber has a tapered tail end, and the tail end of each optical fiber is facing the microsphere sample;

The laser is connected to the optical fiber splitter, and the output ends of the optical fiber splitter are respectively connected to the optical fibers correspondingly.

It can be seen that the microsphere manipulating device in this embodiment includes a laser, an optical fiber beam splitter, and a plurality of optical fibers, and the plurality of optical fibers are arranged in the plane where the microsphere sample is located, at least including along the first direction and centered on the microsphere sample. For the two optical fibers oppositely arranged, the tapered end of each optical fiber faces the microsphere sample. The output light from the fiber irradiates the microsphere sample, part of the light is reflected, and the other part is refracted. The change of the beam direction changes the momentum of the light. Based on the principle of momentum conservation, the momentum of the microsphere will change accordingly, so as to realize the movement of the microsphere .

Therefore, the optical fiber-based microsphere manipulator of the present invention is applied to the microscopic imaging system for microsphere applications, which realizes the use of light beams to manipulate the movement of microspheres, avoids the formation of imaging blind spots during scanning imaging, and ensures imaging of the entire area of the sample. .

The microsphere manipulating device in this embodiment uses the output light of the optical fiber to act on the microsphere sample. During the momentum transfer between the output light and the microsphere, the momentum change obtained by the microsphere is equivalent to the reverse of the momentum change of the beam, and the microsphere is subjected to The magnitude of the force is proportional to the magnitude of the incident light intensity.

Under the action of the optical potential well, the microsphere is mainly subjected to two parts of force: the axial force along the beam propagation direction (ie, the scattering force) and the lateral force (ie, the gradient force, whose direction points to the point of highest energy density). When the refractive index of the microsphere is larger than that of the surrounding medium, the radiation force received by the microsphere is along the direction of the light intensity gradient; otherwise, it is along the opposite direction of the light intensity gradient. In the device of this embodiment, the optical fiber is designed with a tapered tail end, which can provide output light with a gradient distribution of high light intensity, and can greatly increase the optical energy density at the output end of the optical fiber, so that the direction of the force on the dielectric microspheres is all pointing to the direction of the focal point of the light beam , to move the microspheres.

The arrangement of the optical fiber in the optical fiber-based microsphere manipulation device of the present invention will be described in detail below.

In the microsphere manipulating device of this embodiment, a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in the plane where the microsphere sample is located, at least including two optical fibers that are arranged oppositely along the first direction and centered on the microsphere sample, and pass through along one direction and with the microsphere as the center. The sample is two optical fibers arranged opposite to the center, which can manipulate the microspheres to move in one dimension.

In a preferred embodiment, in the plane where the microsphere sample is located, two optical fibers that are oppositely arranged along the first direction and centered on the microsphere sample are arranged, and at least two optical fibers are arranged along the second direction and oppositely centered on the microsphere sample. The two optical fibers are arranged, and the microspheres can be manipulated to move in a two-dimensional plane through the optical fibers respectively arranged in two directions.

Preferably, the first direction and the second direction can be arranged vertically, as shown in FIG. Two optical fibers 1 are arranged oppositely, and the optical fibers 1 have tapered tail ends 100, and the tail ends of each optical fiber 1 face the microsphere sample.

In other specific embodiments, two optical fibers oppositely arranged along the third direction and centered on the microsphere sample can be further arranged, and the optical fiber output beams in the first direction, the second direction and the third direction can be used to control the microspheres. The displacement in the plane is more precisely manipulated and controlled,

The optical fiber in the device of this embodiment has a tapered tail end, through which the optical energy density at the output end of the optical fiber can be greatly increased, and an output beam with a high light intensity gradient distribution is output, so that the radiation force of the output light is along the propagation direction of the beam. Capable of manipulating microspheres over a wide range of distances. The following present embodiment provides an optical fiber manufacturing method, please refer to FIG. 2, the optical fiber manufacturing method of this embodiment includes steps:

S1: In the middle area of a single optical fiber, strip the protective layer of a section of the optical fiber.

Specifically, optical fiber stripping pliers can be used to strip the protective layer of a section in the middle region of a single optical fiber. Further, alcohol cotton can be used to clean the cladding of the optical fiber section from which the protective layer has been stripped, and clean it.

S2: Fix the two ends of the optical fiber, heat the section where the protective layer is stripped, and simultaneously apply axial tension to the two ends of the optical fiber until the optical fiber is broken, and the broken end of the optical fiber is used as tail end.

Specifically, the two ends of the optical fiber may be fixed by respectively fixing the two ends of the optical fiber in movable V-shaped grooves. Then use hydrogen-oxygen flame to heat the section where the optical fiber is stripped of the protective layer, and at the same time, apply an axial pulling force to the two ends of the optical fiber through the V-shaped groove at both ends of the optical fiber until the optical fiber is broken, and the broken end of the optical fiber is as tail end. And further use alcohol cotton to clean the end of the formed optical fiber.

The microsphere manipulating device provided in this embodiment can refer to FIG. 3 . The optical fiber beam splitter 3 is connected to the laser 2 , and its output ends are respectively connected to the optical fibers 1 correspondingly. In this embodiment, the optical fiber 1 is preferably a single-mode optical fiber, and in order to efficiently couple the output light of the laser into the single-mode optical fiber, the output end of the laser 2 is output through a single-mode optical fiber. In addition, since the dielectric microspheres need to be manipulated in water, in order to reduce the power loss of the laser light source caused by water, it is preferable to use a power-tunable laser with an output wavelength of 980 nm.

The microsphere manipulator also includes a micro-displacement manipulator 4, and each optical fiber 1 is fixed by the micro-displacement manipulator 4. The movement of the optical fiber on the horizontal plane can be precisely controlled by the micro-displacement console 4 to manipulate the movement of the microspheres in the liquid.

Preferably, an optical power meter 5 for detecting optical power can be connected to the other output end of the optical fiber splitter 3 , and the output power of the laser 2 can be detected by the optical power meter 5 . If the device is provided with four optical fibers, the optical fiber beam splitter 3 can be a 1×5 optical fiber beam splitter, in which the four output ends are respectively connected to the steering optical fibers, and the other output end is connected to the optical power meter 5 .

The optical fiber 1 is fixed on the micro-displacement console 4. Preferably, in order to reduce the low rigidity of the optical fiber and cause the bending to affect the accuracy of the microsphere manipulation, a capillary glass tube 6 can be arranged in the fixed area of the optical fiber 1 and the micro-displacement console 4 , The capillary glass tube 6 is placed on the outer jacket of the optical fiber 1 to increase its rigidity.

In this embodiment, the optical fiber-based microsphere manipulating device is applied to a microscopic imaging system for microspheres, and the microspheres in liquid can be manipulated to move by using the output beam of the optical fiber to act on the microspheres in the liquid. Avoid the formation of imaging blind areas during scanning and imaging, and ensure that the entire area of the sample is imaged. The microsphere manipulation device of this embodiment has the advantages of simple structure, strong operability, low cost and high efficiency, and can be widely and widely used. The device of this embodiment can realize the manipulation of microspheres to move in a two-dimensional plane, can perform super-resolution imaging of fixed-point positions, and can also realize tracking and imaging of moving objects.

Correspondingly, an embodiment of the present invention also provides a microscopic imaging system. Refer to FIG. 3 , which is a schematic diagram of a microscopic imaging system provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The microscopic imaging system includes:

Optical microscope 7 including objective and eyepieces;

The microsphere manipulation device as described above, wherein the plurality of optical fibers of the microsphere manipulation device are correspondingly arranged in the sample area of the stage;

The photoelectric imaging device 8 arranged on the eyepiece side of the optical microscope;

A computer 9 connected with the photoelectric imaging device.

An image of the sample is formed by an optical microscope 7 and a photoelectric imaging device 8, and is output to a computer 9 for display. The photoelectric imaging device 8 may specifically adopt a CCD camera.

The microscopic imaging system includes a micro-displacement console 4, a capillary glass tube 6, a laser 2, an optical fiber beam splitter 3, and an optical power meter 5. The specific functions and settings of each part can refer to the description in the above embodiments.

When performing microscopic imaging observation on the sample in practical application, the optical fiber 1 is first installed in the corresponding sample area of the stage of the optical microscope 7, and is respectively fixed by the micro-displacement console 4; the output end of the laser 2 is connected to the optical fiber beam splitter 3 , one output end of the optical fiber splitter 3 is connected to the optical power meter 5, and the other output ends are respectively connected to the optical fiber 1 correspondingly. After the optical fiber is fixed, the sample is placed on the stage 10, and a few drops of the suspension containing microspheres are dripped on the sample. The microspheres can be silica pellets (n=1.46) with a diameter of 5 μm. The microsphere is driven by the output beam of the optical fiber, and the optical fiber is arranged in at least two directions, so that the microsphere can be manipulated to move in a two-dimensional plane for scanning and imaging. The image of the sample is output to the computer 9 via the optical microscope 7 and the CCD camera 8 .

The optical fiber-based microsphere manipulation device, microscopic imaging system, and optical fiber manufacturing method provided by the present invention are described above in detail. In this paper, specific examples are used to illustrate the principle and implementation of the present invention, and the descriptions of the above embodiments are only used to help understand the method and core idea of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principle of the present invention, some improvements and modifications can be made to the present invention, and these improvements and modifications also fall within the protection scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A microsphere manipulation device based on an optical fiber, comprising a laser, an optical fiber beam splitter and a plurality of optical fibers; The multiple optical fibers are arranged in the plane where the microsphere sample is located, and the multiple optical fibers include at least two optical fibers oppositely arranged along the first direction and centered on the microsphere sample; The optical fiber has a tapered tail end, and the tail end of each optical fiber is facing the microsphere sample; The laser is connected to the optical fiber splitter, and the output ends of the optical fiber splitter are respectively connected to the optical fibers correspondingly. 2 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of optical fibers further comprises at least two optical fibers oppositely arranged along the second direction and centered on the microsphere sample. 3 . 3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction. 4. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a micro-displacement manipulator, the optical fiber is fixed by the micro-displacement manipulator. 5 . The device according to claim 4 , further comprising a capillary glass tube arranged in a fixed area between the optical fiber and the micro-displacement manipulator. 6 . 6. The device according to claim 1, further comprising an optical power meter connected to an output end of the optical fiber splitter and used for detecting optical power. 7. A microscopic imaging system, characterized in that, comprising: Optical microscopes including objectives and eyepieces; The microsphere manipulation device according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the plurality of optical fibers of the microsphere manipulation device are correspondingly arranged in the sample area of the stage; A photoelectric imaging device arranged on the eyepiece side of the optical microscope; A computer connected to the photoelectric imaging device. 8. A method for making an optical fiber, comprising: In the middle area of a single optical fiber, the protective layer of a section of the optical fiber is stripped; Fix the two ends of the optical fiber, heat the section where the protective layer is stripped, and apply axial tension to the two ends of the optical fiber at the same time until the optical fiber is broken, and the broken end of the optical fiber is used as the tail end . 9. The manufacturing method according to claim 8, characterized in that, after stripping the protective layer of a section of the optical fiber, it also includes: cleaning the cladding of the optical fiber section from which the protective layer is stripped with alcohol cotton; After said breaking the optical fiber, the method further includes: cleaning the formed optical fiber tail end with alcohol cotton. 10. The manufacturing method according to claim 8, wherein the fixing the two ends of the optical fiber specifically comprises: respectively fixing the two ends of the optical fiber in movable V-shaped grooves; The applying an axial pulling force at both ends of the optical fiber specifically includes: applying an axial pulling force to both ends of the optical fiber through the V-shaped groove.