Total internal reflection microscopy (TIRM)

Since its invention in the mid-1980s total internal reflection microscopy (TIRM) has proven to be an extremely sensitive technique for measuring weak interaction forces between colloidal particles and plane surfaces with a resolution down
to a few femtonewtons.
For analysis of the measured signals the TIRM method requires precise knowledge of the particle–wall distance dependence of the scattering intensity.
Both the Discrete Sources Method (DSM) and the Null-field Method with Discrete Sources (NFM-DS) have been extended to simulated TIRM calibration curves for layered surfaces and for coated particles.

• Hertlein, C., Riefler, N., Eremina, E., Wriedt, T., Eremin, Y., Helden, L., Bechinger, C. "Experimental verification of an exact evanescent light scattering model for TIRM", Langmuir, 24 (1) 1-4 (2008). 

• Riefler, N., Eremina, E., Hertlein, C., Helden, L., Eremin, Y., Wriedt, T., Bechinger, C. "Comparison of T-matrix method with discrete sources method applied for total internal reflection microscopy", Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer, 106 (1-3) 464-474 (2007). 

• Eremina, E., Grishina, N., Eremin, Y., Helden, L., Wriedt, T. "Total internal reflection microscopy with a multilayered interface: a light scattering model based on a discrete sources method", Journal of Optics A-Pure and Applied Optics, 8 (11) 999-1006 (2006). 

• Eremina, E., Wriedt, T., Helden, L. (2006). Analysis of evanescent waves scattering by a single particle in Total Internal Reflection Microscopy, in Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS 2006), pp447-449, Electromagnetics Acad, Cambridge, MA.

• Helden, L., Eremina, E., Riefler, N., Hertlein, C., Bechinger, C., Eremin, Y., Wriedt, T. "Single-particle evanescent light scattering simulations for total internal reflection microscopy", Applied Optics, 45 (28) 7299-7308 (2006).