Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Near Simultaneous Laser Scanning Confocal and Atomic Force Microscopy (Conpokal) on Live Cells
Published on: August 11, 2020
Practical limits of resolution in confocal and non-linear microscopy
1Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia, Oeiras, Portugal. guy@emu.usyd.edu.au
Abstract:
Calculated and measured resolution figures are presented for confocal microscopes with different pinhole sizes and for nonlinear (2-photon and second harmonic) microscopes. A modest degree of super-resolution is predicted for a confocal microscope but in practice this is not achievable and confocal fluorescence gives little resolution improvement over widefield. However, practical non-linear microscopes do approach their theoretical resolution and therefore show no resolution disadvantage relative to confocal microscopes in spite of the longer excitation wavelength.
Related Concept Videos
Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy
Super-resolution Fluorescence Microscopy
Imaging Biological Samples with Optical Microscopy
In optical microscopy, the specimen to be viewed is placed on a glass slide and clipped on the stage...
Three-Dimensional Microscopy in Microbiology
Overview of Electron Microscopy
Two-Dimensional Microscopy in Microbiology

