Particle Tracking by Repetitive Phase-Shift Interferometric Super Resolution Microscopy

Accurate and rapid particle tracking is essential for addressing many research problems in single molecule and cellular biophysics, and colloidal soft condensed matter physics. We developed a novel three-dimensional (3D) interferometric fluorescent particle tracking approach that does not require any sample scanning. By periodically shifting the interferometer phase, the information stored in the interference pattern of the emitted light allows localizing particles positions with nanometer resolution. This tracking protocol was demonstrated by measuring a known trajectory of a fluorescent bead with sub-5 nm axial localization error at 5 Hz. Finally, the interferometric microscopy was used to track RecA protein in Bacillus subtilis bacteria to demonstrate its compatibility with biological systems.