Super-Resolution Imaging and Plasmonics

This review describes the growing partnership between super-resolution imaging and plasmonics, by describing the various ways in which the two topics mutually benefit one another to enhance our understanding of the nanoscale world. First, localization-based super-resolution imaging strategies, where molecules are modulated between emissive and nonemissive states and their emission localized, are applied to plasmonic nanoparticle substrates, revealing the hidden shape of the nanoparticles while also mapping local electromagnetic field enhancements and reactivity patterns on their surface. However, these results must be interpreted carefully due to localization errors induced by the interaction between metallic substrates and single fluorophores. Second, plasmonic nanoparticles are explored as image contrast agents for both superlocalization and super-resolution imaging, offering benefits such as high photostability, large signal-to-noise, and distance-dependent spectral features but presenting challenges for localizing individual nanoparticles within a diffraction-limited spot. Finally, the use of plasmon-tailored excitation fields to achieve subdiffraction-limited spatial resolution is discussed, using localized surface plasmons and surface plasmon polaritons to create confined excitation volumes or image magnification to enhance spatial resolution.