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A breakthrough by physicists could shine a light on the secrets of many tiny things to save lives and money.
Scientists at the Australian National University and University of Adelaide have carefully engineered nanoparticles that could usher in a new generation of microscopes.
The nanotechnology uses very high frequencies of light so researchers can see objects that are thousands of times smaller than a human hair, such as the structure of cells or inside viruses.
The new technology, which requires only a single nanoparticle to work, can "see" at 10 times the resolution of conventional microscopes, according to research published in Science Advances.
"Scientists who want to generate a highly magnified image of an extremely small, nanoscale object can't use a conventional optical microscope," lead author Anastasiia Zalogina said.
Instead, they must rely on either super-resolution techniques or use an electron microscope to study these tiny objects.
"But such techniques are slow and the technology is very expensive, often costing more than $1 million," Ms Zalogina said.
The more affordable ANU technology uses nanoparticles to increase the frequency of light that cameras and other technologies can see.
The researchers say there is no limit to how high the frequency of light can be increased - the higher the frequency, the smaller the object that can be seen.
Another benefit is that light-based microscopes are less likely to damage delicate samples than electron microscopy.
Co-author Sergey Kruk said the nanotech could also help quality control in the semiconductor industry by quickly spotting any problems on the very tiny components of computer chips.
"That way manufacturers could save resources and time on bad batches of chips, thereby increasing yields," he said.
It is estimated that a one per cent increase in yields of computer chip manufacturing translates into $2 billion in savings.
