Terahertz Microscope Based on Solid Immersion Effect for Imaging of Biological Tissues

Abstract

We propose a new method of terahertz microscopy for imaging of biological tissues with a subwavelength spatial resolution. It makes it possible to surmount the Abbe diffraction limit and ensures a subwavelength resolution due to the solid immersion effect, i.e., due to decreasing dimensions of the electromagnetic beam caustic as the beam is focused in free space at a small distance (smaller than the wavelength) behind a medium with a high refractive index. An experimental setup that realizes the proposed method is developed. It uses a backward-wave oscillator and a Golay cell as a source and a detector of the terahertz radiation, respectively. In this setup, the radiation is focused behind a silicon hemisphere to realize the solid immersion effect. A record-high spatial resolution of 0.15λ is demonstrated experimentally for optical systems based on the solid immersion effect (the measurements have been performed at a wavelength of λ = 500 μm using a metal–air interface as a test object). Microscopy based on the solid immersion effect does not imply using diaphragms or near-field probes of other types for achieving the subwavelength spatial resolution, and, correspondingly eliminates energy losses associated with these elements. The proposed method has been applied for imaging of soft biological tissues, which has made it possible to demonstrate its potential for the use in biology and medicine.