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Polonschii C, Gheorghiu M, David S, Gáspár S, Melinte S, Majeed H, Kandel ME, Popescu G, Gheorghiu E. High-resolution impedance mapping using electrically activated quantitative phase imaging. Light Sci Appl 2021; 10:20. [PMID: 33479199 PMCID: PMC7820407 DOI: 10.1038/s41377-020-00461-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2020] [Revised: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 12/29/2020] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Retrieving electrical impedance maps at the nanoscale rapidly via nondestructive inspection with a high signal-to-noise ratio is an unmet need, likely to impact various applications from biomedicine to energy conversion. In this study, we develop a multimodal functional imaging instrument that is characterized by the dual capability of impedance mapping and phase quantitation, high spatial resolution, and low temporal noise. To achieve this, we advance a quantitative phase imaging system, referred to as epi-magnified image spatial spectrum microscopy combined with electrical actuation, to provide complementary maps of the optical path and electrical impedance. We demonstrate our system with high-resolution maps of optical path differences and electrical impedance variations that can distinguish nanosized, semi-transparent, structured coatings involving two materials with relatively similar electrical properties. We map heterogeneous interfaces corresponding to an indium tin oxide layer exposed by holes with diameters as small as ~550 nm in a titanium (dioxide) over-layer deposited on a glass support. We show that electrical modulation during the phase imaging of a macro-electrode is decisive for retrieving electrical impedance distributions with submicron spatial resolution and beyond the limitations of electrode-based technologies (surface or scanning technologies). The findings, which are substantiated by a theoretical model that fits the experimental data very well enable achieving electro-optical maps with high spatial and temporal resolutions. The virtues and limitations of the novel optoelectrochemical method that provides grounds for a wider range of electrically modulated optical methods for measuring the electric field locally are critically discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Sorin David
- International Centre of Biodynamics, 060101, Bucharest, Romania
| | | | - Sorin Melinte
- Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Hassaan Majeed
- Quantitative Light Imaging Laboratory, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Mikhail E Kandel
- Quantitative Light Imaging Laboratory, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Gabriel Popescu
- Quantitative Light Imaging Laboratory, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
| | - Eugen Gheorghiu
- International Centre of Biodynamics, 060101, Bucharest, Romania.
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