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 Concept Videos

Phase Contrast and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy01:26

Phase Contrast and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy

11.1K
Phase-Contrast Microscopes
In-phase-contrast microscopes, interference between light directly passing through a cell and light refracted by cellular components is used to create high-contrast, high-resolution images without staining. It is the oldest and simplest type of microscope that creates an image by altering the wavelengths of light rays passing through the specimen. Altered wavelength paths are created using an annular stop in the condenser. The annular stop produces a hollow cone of...
11.1K
Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy01:16

Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy

17.4K
Confocal microscopy is an advanced microscopic technique. The prime advantage of the confocal microscope over other microscopy techniques is its ability to block the out-of-focus light from the illuminated samples using pinholes. It is widely used with fluorescence optics to obtain high-resolution, sharp contrast images. Unlike optical microscopes, confocal microscopes use a focused beam of light laser to scan the entire sample surface at different z-planes. These microscopes are, therefore,...
17.4K
Three-Dimensional Microscopy in Microbiology01:28

Three-Dimensional Microscopy in Microbiology

452
Three-dimensional imaging techniques are essential in cell biology, allowing researchers to visualize intricate cellular structures with high resolution. Two prominent methods, Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy (DIC) and Confocal Scanning Laser Microscopy (CSLM), provide distinct advantages for imaging live and thick specimens, respectively.Differential Interference Contrast MicroscopyDIC microscopy enhances contrast in transparent, unstained samples by converting phase...
452

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Selective Narrowing of the Bonding Modes of Plasmonic Nanoantennas.

ACS applied materials & interfaces·2026
Same author

Printable and Antiferromagnetic Mn(OH)<sub>2</sub>@Te-O Core-Shell Nanosheets.

Chemistry of materials : a publication of the American Chemical Society·2026
Same author

Shadow Montage and Cone-Beam Reconstruction in 4D-STEM Tomography.

Microscopy and microanalysis : the official journal of Microscopy Society of America, Microbeam Analysis Society, Microscopical Society of Canada·2026
Same author

The Molecular Basis of Growth Control in Guanine Crystals.

Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026
Same author

Elucidating Structural Disorder in a Polymeric Layered Material: The Case of Sodium Poly(heptazine imide) Photocatalyst.

Nano letters·2025
Same author

Solving the Crystal Architecture of Coccoliths Using 4D-STEM.

Microscopy and microanalysis : the official journal of Microscopy Society of America, Microbeam Analysis Society, Microscopical Society of Canada·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 17, 2025

In vivo Clonal Tracking of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells Marked by Five Fluorescent Proteins using Confocal and Multiphoton Microscopy
17:08

In vivo Clonal Tracking of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells Marked by Five Fluorescent Proteins using Confocal and Multiphoton Microscopy

Published on: August 6, 2014

13.3K

Flexible STEM with Simultaneous Phase and Depth Contrast.

Shahar Seifer1, Lothar Houben2, Michael Elbaum1

  • 1Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot7610001, Israel.

Microscopy and Microanalysis : the Official Journal of Microscopy Society of America, Microbeam Analysis Society, Microscopical Society of Canada
|October 11, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

New scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) hardware enables novel low-acceleration scan patterns and multi-channel detection. This system decomposes differential phase contrast into electric potential and defocus images.

Keywords:
contrast transfer functiondifferential phase contrastscan controlscanning transmission electron microscopysegmented detector

More Related Videos

Using High Resolution Computed Tomography to Visualize the Three Dimensional Structure and Function of Plant Vasculature
11:49

Using High Resolution Computed Tomography to Visualize the Three Dimensional Structure and Function of Plant Vasculature

Published on: April 5, 2013

21.3K
A Simple Chamber for Long-term Confocal Imaging of Root and Hypocotyl Development
07:59

A Simple Chamber for Long-term Confocal Imaging of Root and Hypocotyl Development

Published on: May 17, 2017

10.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Oct 17, 2025

In vivo Clonal Tracking of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells Marked by Five Fluorescent Proteins using Confocal and Multiphoton Microscopy
17:08

In vivo Clonal Tracking of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells Marked by Five Fluorescent Proteins using Confocal and Multiphoton Microscopy

Published on: August 6, 2014

13.3K
Using High Resolution Computed Tomography to Visualize the Three Dimensional Structure and Function of Plant Vasculature
11:49

Using High Resolution Computed Tomography to Visualize the Three Dimensional Structure and Function of Plant Vasculature

Published on: April 5, 2013

21.3K
A Simple Chamber for Long-term Confocal Imaging of Root and Hypocotyl Development
07:59

A Simple Chamber for Long-term Confocal Imaging of Root and Hypocotyl Development

Published on: May 17, 2017

10.4K

Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Physics
  • Microscopy

Background:

  • Recent advancements in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) necessitate improved hardware for multi-channel detectors and unconventional scan patterns.
  • Existing commercial hardware does not meet these emerging requirements for advanced STEM applications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and characterize a flexible STEM system addressing the need for novel scan patterns and multi-channel data acquisition.
  • To explore various STEM contrast modes using a custom-built system with a solid-state quadrant detector and annular rings.
  • To demonstrate the decomposition of integrated differential phase contrast (iDPC) into contributions from projected electric potential and defocus.

Main Methods:

  • Implementation of a flexible scan generator for low-acceleration scan patterns.
  • Utilizing a scalable eight-channel array of non-multiplexed analog-to-digital converters for data recording.
  • Integration with SerialEM for automated acquisition protocols, including tomography, and employing a solid-state quadrant detector with annular rings.

Main Results:

  • The developed STEM system successfully enables exploration of low-acceleration scan patterns and multi-channel detection.
  • Through-focus bright-field scans demonstrate a relationship to phase contrast, analogous to wide-field transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
  • Compensation of the parallax effect observed in off-axis detector images allows for the decomposition of iDPC into electric potential and defocus components.

Conclusions:

  • The described STEM system provides a flexible platform for advanced imaging techniques, overcoming limitations of standard commercial hardware.
  • The ability to decompose iDPC into separable contributions of electric potential and defocus offers new analytical capabilities.
  • This approach yields both a computationally refocused phase contrast image and a defocus-sensitive image from a single scan.