Microscopy and Metrology with Molecular Resolution

Since the invention of the optical microscope in the 17th century and the first observations of microscopic life, improvements in resolving power have been revolutionising sciences across the board. However, after four centuries of research effort, our ability to image objects and their motion at the molecular and atomic scales remains limited. This project will leverage recent advances in topology, the structuring of optical fields, metamaterials, optical and electron microscopy, and artificial intelligence, to develop methods that allow imaging of nanostructures and biological objects with unprecedented resolution approaching the atomic scale [Science 364, 771 (2019) doi: 10.1126/science.aaw7840; Adv. Sci. 2002886 (2020) doi:10.1002/advs.202002886]. Such methods will become indispensable in a large range of disciplines and technological applications from the study of life at the nanoscale to nanodevice manufacturing.