Fluorescence imaging assisted by surface modes on dielectric multilayers

Abstract

We propose a novel approach for wide-field fluorescence imaging based on dielectric multilayers on glass coverslides. It is demonstrated that the fluorescence radiated by emitters in proximity to the multilayer surface can couple to Bloch Surface Waves and subsequently leaks into the glass. The coupled fluorescence is beamed with low divergence according to the Bloch Surface Waves spectral/angular dispersion and then collected with a low-magnification imaging system. Since the coupling between emitter and surface modes is dependent on the surface local morphology, we find a strong spectral deformation of the collected fluorescence spectrum depending on the corresponding surface relieves imaged.