Proceedings of nanoGe Fall Meeting 2021 (NFM21)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.nfm.2021.056
Publication date: 23rd September 2021
Blinking nanoscale emitters, typically single molecules, are employed in single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) to overcome Abbe's diffraction limit, offering spatial resolution of few tens of nanometers. Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) feature high photostability, ultrahigh absorption cross-sections and brightness, as well as wide tunability of the emission properties, making them a compelling alternative to organic molecules. Here, CsPbBr3 nanocrystals, the latest addition to the QD family, are explored as probes in SMLM. Because of the strongly suppressed QD photoluminescence blinking (ON/OFF occurrence higher than 90%), it is difficult to resolve emitters with overlapping point-spread functions by standard dSTORM methods due to false localizations. A new workflow based on ellipticity filtering efficiently identifies false localizations and allows the precise localization of QDs with subwavelength spatial resolution. Aided by Monte-Carlo simulations, the optimal QD blinking dynamics for dSTORM applications is identified, harnessing the benefits of higher QD absorption cross-section and the enhanced QD photostability to further expand the field of QD super-resolution microscopy toward sub-nanometer spatial resolution.
References
[1] Advanced Optical Materials, https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202100620