Three-dimensional (3D) imaging is essential for investigating cellular structure and dynamics. Traditional optical methods ...

In the 20 th century, light microscopes relied solely on focusing light in space for the separation (=resolution) of adjacent tiny features. Either they focused the illumination light as sharply ...

Optical microscopes are still second to none when it comes to analyzing biological samples. However, their low resolution, improved only in recent years in STED microscopes, continues to be a problem.

“The resolution of the standard optical microscope is basically limited by the diffraction barrier of light, which restricts the resolution to 200–300 nm for visible light,” explains Mark Schüttpelz, ...

The optical microscope, invented more than 400 years ago, has tended to grow larger and more complex as it has been modified to image ever-smaller objects with better resolution.

A new type of super-resolution optical microscopy takes a high-resolution image (at right) of graphite "nanoplatelets" about 100 nanometers wide. The imaging system, called saturated transient ...

Metalenses represent a revolutionary advancement in optical technology. Unlike conventional microscope objectives that rely on curved glass surfaces, metalenses employ nanoscale structures to ...

All the latest science news on optical microscopy from Phys.org. Find the latest news, advancements, and ... it takes many years of work to discover new super-resolution microscopy techniques.

A key limitation of microscopes is that they can only image objects or details that are half the wavelength of the light used – so for optical microscopes, details can be seen down to about 200 ...