Viewpoints in OPFocus
Prof. Niek van Hulst inaugurates a series of viewpoint features for
Optics & Photonics Focus.
March 07, 2009
Prof. Niek van Hulst is the first of the authors that will express their viewpoint in
articles published regularly in OPFocus. The title of the first issue is “Many photons get
more out of diffraction”. In this article, Prof. van Hulst talks about Nanoscopy, i.e.
optical microscopy with 10-30 nm detail. This is already a reality, and it has been
chosen as “Method of the year 2008” by Nature Methods. Researchers are all aware of the
wave nature of light and the ensuing diffraction limit for resolution, so, have the rules
of physics been broken? What’s the trick and where’s the catch?