Nanoscale Resolution in Far-Field Fluorescence Microscopy

2007 | book part

Jump to: Cite & Linked | Documents & Media | Details | Version history

Cite this publication

​Nanoscale Resolution in Far-Field Fluorescence Microscopy​
Hell, S. W. ; Schönle, A.  & Van den Bos, A.​ (2007)
In:​Hawkes, Peter W.; Spence, John C. H.​ (Eds.), Science of Microscopy pp. 790​-834. ​New York: ​Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-49762-4_12 

Documents & Media

License

GRO License GRO License

Details

Authors
Hell, Stefan W. ; Schönle, Andreas ; Van den Bos, A.
Editors
Hawkes, Peter W.; Spence, John C. H.
Abstract
The discovery of the diffraction barrier in 1873 by Ernst Abbe (1873) has shown that, relying on propagating light waves and regular lenses, the traditional light microscope cannot resolve spatial structures that are smaller than about half the wavelength of the focused light. This physical insight has been accepted as an unalterable limitation of focusing light microscopy and has consequently triggered the invention of nonoptical imaging techniques, such as electron and scanning probe microscopy. In spite of the tremendous improvement in resolution brought about by these methods, light microscopy has maintained its importance in many fields of science. The reasons are mainly a number of exclusive advantages, the most prominent of which is the ability to noninvasively image (living) specimens. Light microscopy also entails the possibility of using fluorescence as a highly specific signature of the specimen features of interest. Fluorescence is particularly attractive when provided by endogenous fluorescence markers, i.e., proteins in physiologically intact cells. Mapped with a confocal or multiphoton excitation microscope (Sheppard and Kompfner, 1978; Wilson and Sheppard, 1984; Denk et al., 1990), fluorescence emission readily yields protein three-dimensional (3D) distributions, or that of other fluorescently labeled molecules from the strongly convoluted inside of biological specimens.
Issue Date
2007
Publisher
Springer
ISBN
978-0-387-25296-4
Language
English

Reference

Citations


Social Media