Popular Articles

  1. Refractive Index (Index of Refraction)

    The ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to that in the imaging medium of a microscope.

  2. Polarized Light Microscopy

    Using crossed polarized illumination to examine birefringent materials.

  3. Introduction to Phase Contrast Microscopy

    A mechanism to translate variations in phase into corresponding changes in amplitude.

  4. Principles of Birefringence

    Defined as double refraction of light in a transparent, molecularly ordered material.

  5. Resolution

    The resolving power of a microscope is the most important feature of the optical system.

  6. Introduction to Fluorescence Microscopy

    Basic equipment and techniques necessary for observing specimens in fluorescence.

  7. Numerical Aperture

    The ability of a microscope objective to gather light and resolve fine specimen detail.

  8. Introduction to Polarized Light

    Discussion of birefringence, Brewster's angle, and various forms of polarized light.

  9. Introduction to Fluorescent Proteins

    Genetically-encoded fluorescent probes that are revolutionizing live-cell imaging.

  10. Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) Microscopy

    TIRF restricts the excitation and detection of fluorophores to a thin region of the specimen.

  1. Depth of Field and Depth of Focus

    Fundamentals of the axial or longitudinal properties of microscope objectives.

  2. Basics of FRET Microscopy

    Using fluorescence to examine dynamic interactions between probes in living cells.

  3. Microscope Objective Specifications

    The nomenclature and abbreviations inscribed on the objective protective barrel.

  4. Multiphoton Microscopy

    Mode-locked pulsed lasers are used for deep tissue imaging and optical sectioning.

  5. The Diffraction Barrier in Optical Microscopy

    Limitations on optical microscope resolution imposed by physical laws.

  6. Introductory Confocal Concepts

    A discussion of point scanning and pinhole detection using photomultipliers.

  7. Introduction to Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs)

    Fundamental properties of CCDs, including pixels, readout, noise, and timing.

  8. Introduction to Microscope Objectives

    Objectives are responsible for image formation and the quality of images.

  9. Working Distance and Parfocal Length

    The distance between the objective front lens or the nosepiece and the specimen.

  10. Yellow Fluorescent Protein (YFP) Excitation

    The Nikon yellow fluorescent protein fluorescence filter category comprises a single high-performance balanced combination, which effectively extends the fluorescent protein detection capabilities afforded by the three green fluorescent protein (GFP) filter sets to the longer wavelength enhanced yellow chromatic variants of GFP (YFP and EYFP). The...