Single-shot isotropic differential interference contrast microscopy

The authors present a metasurface-assisted isotropic DIC microscopy technique. It is based on an original pattern of radial shear interferometry, that converts rectilinear shear into rotationally symmetric radial shear, enabling single-shot isotropic imaging capabilities. Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy allows high-contrast, low-phototoxicity, and label-free imaging of transparent biological objects, and has been applied in the field of cellular morphology, cell segmentation, particle tracking, optical measurement and others. Commercial DIC microscopy based on Nomarski or Wollaston prism resorts to the interference of two polarized waves with a lateral differential offset (shear) and axial phase shift (bias). However, the shear generated by these prisms is limited to the rectilinear direction, unfortunately resulting in anisotropic contrast imaging. Here we propose an ultracompact metasurface-assisted isotropic DIC (i-DIC) microscopy based on a grand original pattern of radial shear interferometry, that converts the rectilinear shear into rotationally symmetric along radial direction, enabling single-shot isotropic imaging capabilities. The i-DIC presents a complementary fusion of typical meta-optics, traditional microscopes and integrated optical system, and showcases the promising and synergetic advancements in edge detection, particle motion tracking, and label-free cellular imaging.

Automated summary

The authors propose a metasurface-assisted isotropic DIC microscopy technique, which converts rectilinear shear into rotationally symmetric radial shear for single-shot isotropic imaging capabilities. DIC microscopy has been widely used in various fields, such as cellular morphology and particle tracking. However, current commercial DIC microscopy based on prisms only generates anisotropic contrast imaging. The proposed i-DIC microscopy, based on a novel pattern of radial shear interferometry, offers a compact and isotropic imaging solution with the fusion of meta-optics, traditional microscopes, and integrated optical systems.