3D Particle Trajectories Observed by Orthogonal Tracking Microscopy

Published

February 9, 2009

Author(s)

Matthew D. McMahon, Andrew J. Berglund, Peter T. Carmichael, Jabez J. McClelland, James A. Liddle

Abstract

We demonstrate high-resolution, high-speed 3D nanoparticle tracking using angled micromirrors. When angled micromirrors are introduced into the field of view of an optical microscope, reflected side-on views of a diffusing nanoparticle are projected alongside the usual direct image. The experimental design allows us to find the 3D particle trajectory using fast, centroid-based image processing, with no nonlinear computing operations. We have tracked polystyrene particles of 190 nm diameter with position measurement precision <20 nm in 3D with 3 ms frame duration (i.e., at an imaging rate >330 frames per second). Because the image processing requires only ≈1 ms per frame, this technique could enable real-time feedback-controlled nanoparticle assembly applications with nanometer precision.

Citation

ACS Nano

Volume

3

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

orthogonal tracking microscopy, particle tracking, three-dimensional microscopy, optical microscopy, digital video microscopy, multiple vantage point microscopy

Citation

McMahon, M. , Berglund, A. , Carmichael, P. , McClelland, J. and Liddle, J. (2009), 3D Particle Trajectories Observed by Orthogonal Tracking Microscopy, ACS Nano, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=620605 (Accessed October 10, 2025)