Fluorescence microscopy

Thanks to its high specificity and sensitivity, fluorescence microscopy has become the predominant type of microscopy in the live sciences. It is based on the ability of certain molecules (“fluorophores”) to absorb light of a certain wavelength (color) and – shortly after – emit light of a different (longer) wavelength (see schematic below).

Several different types of fluorescence microscopes have been developed in the last decades. They differ in the optical layout and the specific way to excite fluorescence molecules, thereby providing optical sectioning (e.g. confocal microscopes), high-speed acquisition (e.g. spinning disk and lightsheet microscopes), superresolution (STED and localization microscopes) or deep tissue penetration (two-photon excitation microscopes). The imaging facility provides support for all these various microscopes and techniques. In addition to providing access to commercial instruments, we also develop and build our own setups.