Microscopic apparatus for creating super-resolution images of an organism or biological matter and method for creating super-resolution images of an organism or biological matter using the same

1. An optical microscopic apparatus for creating a super-resolution image of an organism or biological matter, the optical microscopic apparatus comprising:

a light source configured to provide visible light comprising evanescent waves;

a hyper-lens unit comprising a front surface on which a specimen is placed, the hyper-lens unit comprising a multi-layered structure to convert at least part of the evanescent waves incident on the front surface into propagating waves;

an objective lens for collecting visible light emitted from a rear surface of the hyper-lens unit; and

an image capturing unit to capture visible light emitted from the objective lens and to create an image of the specimen,

wherein the hyper-lens unit is detachable, and

wherein the specimen is cultured on the front surface of the hyper-lens unit while the hyper-lens unit is immersed in a liquid medium for the specimen.

2. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the specimen comprises a live organism having a size smaller than one half of a shortest wavelength of the visible light, and

wherein the hyper-lens unit is configured to enlarge an image of the live organism, the image of the live organism when created by the image capturing unit being discernible by a human eye.

3. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the specimen comprises a neuron having a size about 150 nm, and

wherein the hyper-lens unit is configured to enlarge an image of the neuron, the image of the neuron when created by the image capturing unit being discernible by a human eye.

4. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the specimen comprises at least one organism having a size smaller than one half of a shortest wavelength of the visible light, and

wherein the organism is any one of a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a bacteria, a virus, single molecular cell, and a lipid.

5. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 1 ,

wherein the hyper-lens unit comprises:

a lens layer having the front surface on which the specimen is placed, the front surface having a concave portion; and

a substrate layer for supporting the lens layer and covering a back side of the lens layer.

6. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 5 ,

wherein the lens layer has a hemisphere shape by alternately layering a plurality of dielectric layers and a plurality of metallic layers.

7. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 6 ,

wherein the dielectric layers comprise titanium oxide Ti 3 O 5 , and the metallic layers comprise silver Ag, and

wherein the visible light has wavelengths within a range of 400 nm to 500 nm.

8. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 6 ,

wherein the dielectric layers comprise silicon Si, and the metallic layers comprise silver Ag.

9. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 8 ,

wherein the dielectric layers comprise non-crystalline or amorphous silicon formed through sputtering.

10. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 9 ,

wherein each of the dielectric layers and each of the metallic layers have thicknesses less than or equal to 15 nm, respectively.

11. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 8 ,

wherein the visible light has wavelengths within a range of 500 nm to 650 nm.

12. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 1 ,

wherein the hyper-lens unit further comprises a protection film covering the lens layer, the protection film comprising a material for preventing liquid permeation, and

wherein the specimen is configured to be disposed on the protection film.

13. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 12 ,

wherein the protection film comprises a glass layer.

14. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 13 ,

wherein the protection film is deposited on the lens layer by an atomic layer deposition.

15. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 2 ,

wherein the image capturing unit creates video image data including real time movements of the specimen.

16. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 1 ,

wherein the visible light incident on the hyper-lens unit is non-polarized visible light.

17. The optical microscopic apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

immersion oil provided between the objective lens and the hyper-lens unit.

18. A method for creating a high-resolution image of an organism or biological matter, the method comprising:

immersing a hyper-lens unit in a liquid medium for culturing a specimen on one side of the hyper-lens unit, the hyper-lens unit comprising a multi-layered structure to convert at least part of evanescent waves incident on the one side into propagating waves;

creating visible light to illuminate the one side of the hyper-lens unit;

collecting light leaving the other side of the hyper-lens unit; and

obtaining the collected light to create an image of the specimen.

19. The method of claim 18 ,

wherein the specimen comprises a live organism having a size smaller than one half of a shortest wavelength of the visible light, and

wherein the hyper-lens unit is configured to enlarge an image of the live organism, the image of the live organism when created by an image capturing unit being discernible by a human eye.