Better Imaging Using Sound

A new, extremely promising microscopy technique called "Nanomechanical scanning absorption microscopy" has been developed at TU Wien, in which sound is measured instead of light. Individual molecules cannot be photographed - if you wish to visualise objects that are smaller than the wavelength of light, you'll need a few special tricks up your sleeve. You can use electron microscopes for example, or determine the position of specific fluorescent molecules by taking a large number of images one after the other. After years of research, a team from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at TU Wien was able to present a new microscopy technique, which can be used to visualise individual molecules and even reliably identify them. The molecules are placed on a tiny membrane and irradiated with a laser, whereby the way in which the vibration behaviour of the membrane changes is measured. Thus, the key measurement variable is not light, but rather a mechanical vibration, i.e. sound. This technique has now been published in the renowned journal PNAS.