Overcoming the Limits of Diffraction with Superresolution Lighting on a Chip

ChipScope will revolutionize optical microscopes with super-resolution capabilities, making them chip-sized, convenient, affordable and ubiquitously available, not only for laboratories working in manifold research fields, but also in everyday life. During the project, very small LEDs of 50 nm (this is 1000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair) will be developed and used as light sources for a new microscope which will be integrated on a chip. The fundamental difference with conventional optical microscopy will be that the illumination is made by extremely small individual light sources instead of a wide illumination field and tiny detectors in the camera. This allows super-resolution (<50nm) optical microscopy, which could be used to investigate extremely small structures as viruses, DNA or living cells, in real time. 1) ChipScope will develop the first chip-sized optical microscope with super-resolution capabilities. This microscope will be convenient, affordable and ubiquitously available. 2) ChipScope will develop semiconductor nano light emitting diode (nanoLED) arrays with individual pixel operation. This will lead to extreme miniaturisation and simplicity for super-resolution microscopy. 3) ChipScope will prove the concept by using a real-time imaging device to study the in-cell mechanisms in a wide-spread lung disease called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), a chronic age-related lung disease killing 0.5 Million people each year worldwide. 4) ChipScope relies on a highly interdisciplinary consortium with strong background. It includes leading universities and research centres as well as a SME. The European industry leaders in the market of imaging and microscopy are included via an Industry Advisory Board.