Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Fluorescence microscopy with diffraction resolution barrier broken by stimulated emission.

T A Klar1, S Jakobs, M Dyba

  • 1Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, High Resolution Optical Microscopy Group, 37070 Göttingen, Germany.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|July 19, 2000
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired oxidative stress defense as potential trigger of cerebral X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy.

Free radical biology & medicine·2025
Same author

Bioinspired polymer microstructures for directional transport of oily liquids.

Royal Society open science·2017
Same author

Raman and Luminescent Spectra of Sulfonated Zn Phthalocyanine Enhanced by Gold Nanoparticles.

Nanoscale research letters·2017
Same author

Structures of riboswitch RNA reaction states by mix-and-inject XFEL serial crystallography.

Nature·2016
Same author

Bone-forming cells with pronounced spread into the third dimension in polymer scaffolds fabricated by two-photon polymerization.

Journal of biomedical materials research. Part A·2016
Same author

Self-amplified photo-induced gap quenching in a correlated electron material.

Nature communications·2016

Researchers have overcome the diffraction barrier in fluorescence microscopy. By using stimulated emission to quench molecules, they achieved a significantly smaller focal spot, enabling greater detail in imaging live cells.

Area of Science:

  • Optics
  • Microscopy
  • Spectroscopy

Background:

  • The diffraction limit restricts the resolution of far-field fluorescence microscopy.
  • Achieving smaller focal spots is crucial for enhanced imaging resolution and advanced applications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To fundamentally break the diffraction barrier in fluorescence microscopy.
  • To develop a method for achieving significantly smaller focal spot sizes and improved resolution.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing stimulated emission to quench excited organic molecules at the rim of the focal spot.
  • Precisely controlling molecular excitation and de-excitation processes.

Main Results:

  • Reduced focal spot size by up to 6 times along the optic axis, surpassing the diffraction limit.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Achieved a nearly spherical fluorescence spot (90-110 nm diameter) with a 2-fold improvement in the radial direction.
  • Created a spot volume 18 times smaller than confocal microscopy.

    • Conclusions:

    • The developed method fundamentally breaks the diffraction barrier in fluorescence microscopy.
    • The significantly reduced spot size and volume have implications for 3D photochemistry and single-molecule spectroscopy.
    • Enhanced imaging of live cells reveals greater biological details.