Main Content
Methods
confocal laser scanning microscopy
Our Leica TCS SP2 is a laser scanning confocal microscope with freely definable AOBS (Acousto - Optical Beam Splitter). This element replaces the conventional primary dichroic mirror in the scan head for reflecting excitation light and transmitting emitted fluorescent light. The microscope is euipped with four highly sensitive detectors (PMTs) to simultaneously record four individually defined spectral bands.
TIRF microscopy
Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM) is a highly sensitive technique to perform functional investigations in living cells, espacially at the plasma membrane. A high signal to noise ratio and fluorescence detection 70-250 nm above the coverslip/water interface allows to visualize vesicles trafficking, signalling and structural elements of the cell. Physical background is the total reflection of a laser beam at the interface of glass and water and the resulting electromagnetic wave, the so-called evanescent field. The energy of the evanescent field decreases exponentially with the distance of the interface coverslip/water and allows exciting fluorochromes.
superresolution microscopy
Fluorescence super-resolution microscopy breaks the diffraction limit and provides images with an optical resolution below 200 nm.