Efficient light-collection effect in fluorescence microscopy with solid immersion lens

Summary form only given. Improved light-collection efficiency and spatial resolution in fluorescence microscopy higher than the diffraction-limit values in the conventional methods have been simultaneously realized by means of a solid immersion lens (SIL), for which we investigate the relevant physics of the efficient light-collection effect. This technique should be very useful in the fluorescence microscopy of semiconductor nano-structures, single dye molecules and various applications in molecular biology.