9308427 Vaez-Iravani This grant will support research in the area of near-field optical microscopy. The investigator will combine non- contact force microscopy with fluorescence and phase contrast near field scanning optical microscopy. It is anticipated that this technique will improve the resolution significantly over other techniques. Both biological structures and porous silicon photoluminescent surfaces will be imaged. This research is important since it is likely that it will advance the state-of-the-art in the field of optical microscopy. This new method of obtaining high resolution images should have an impact in many disciplines including structural biology, immunology and materials science. ***
