Leica Microsystems: Leica Science Lab

Science Lab

The knowledge portal of Leica Microsystems offers scientific research and teaching material on the subjects of microscopy. The content is designed to support beginners, experienced practitioners and scientists alike in their everyday work and experiments. Explore interactive tutorials and application notes, discover the basics of microscopy as well as high-end technologies – become part of the Science Lab community and share your expertise!

Area of a printed circuit board (PCB) which was imaged with extended depth of field (EDOF) using digital microscopy.

Depth of Field in Microscope Images

For microscopy imaging, depth of field is an important parameter when needing sharp images of sample areas with structures having significant changes in depth. In practice, depth of field is…

These images show the microstructure of a hard metal with 10% cobalt which is used for heavy-duty tools. The large increase in magnification of the right image (compared to the left) has a risk of being outside the useful range or, in other words, empty magnification.

What is Empty Magnification and How can Users Avoid it

The phenomenon of “empty magnification”, which can occur while using an optical, light, or digital microscope, and how it can be avoided is explained in this article. The performance of an optical…

Image of a tartaric-acid crystal taken with polarization microscopy. Tartaric acid, a diprotic, aldaric carboxylic acid, is a naturally occurring organic compound notably found in grapes. Tartaric_acids_polarization.jpg

The Polarization Microscopy Principle

Polarization microscopy is routinely used in the material and earth sciences to identify materials and minerals on the basis of their characteristic refractive properties and colors. In biology,…

Microscope equipped with a K7 color CMOS camera for life-science and industry imaging applications.

Technical Terms for Digital Microscope Cameras and Image Analysis

Learn more about the basic principles behind digital microscope camera technologies, how digital cameras work, and take advantage of a reference list of technical terms from this article.

Image of a Siemens star, where the diameter of the 1st black line circle is 10 mm and the 2nd is 20 mm, taken via an eyepiece of a M205 A stereo microscope. The rectangles represent the field of view (FOV) of a Leica digital camera when installed with various C-mounts (red 0.32x, blue 0.5x, green 0.63x).

Understanding Clearly the Magnification of Microscopy

To help users better understand the magnification of microscopy and how to determine the useful range of magnification values for digital microscopes, this article provides helpful guidelines.

Image of an onion flake taken with a basic Leica compound microscope after it was tested for resistance to fungus and mold growth following part 11 of the ISO 9022 standard.

ISO 9022 Standard Part 11 - Testing Microscopes with Severe Conditions

This article describes a test to determine the robustness of Leica microscopes to mold and fungus growth. The test follows the specifications of the ISO 9022 part 11 standard for optical instruments.

C. elegans adult hermaphrodite gonades acquired using THUNDER Imager. Staining: blue - DAPI (nucleus), green - SP56 (sperm), red - RME-2 (oocyte), magenta - PGL-1 (RNA + protein granules). Image courtesy of Prof. Dr. Christian Eckmann, Martin Luther University, Halle, Germany.

Life Science Research: Which Microscope Camera is Right for You?

Deciding which microscope camera best fits your experimental needs can be daunting. This guide presents the key factors to consider when selecting the right camera for your life science research.

Fluorescence microscope image of a life-science specimen

An Introduction to Fluorescence

This article gives an introduction to fluorescence and photoluminescence, which includes phosphorescence, explains the basic theory behind them, and how fluorescence is used for microscopy.

Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) Microscopy

This article demonstrates how differential interference contrast (DIC) can be actually better than brightfield illumination when using microscopy to image unstained biological specimens.