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!

Documentation of an automotive clutch friction surface with a digital microscope

Automotive Part Verification and Development according to Specifications

Automotive part verification during the development and production of parts and components by suppliers or manufacturers is important for ensuring that specifications are met. Specifications are…

A Guide to Darkfield Microscopes

A darkfield microscope offers a way to view the structures of many types of biological specimens in greater contrast without the need of stains.

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,…

Region of a patterned wafer inspected using optical microscopy and automated and reproducible DIC (differential interference contrast). With DIC users are able to visualize small height differences on the wafer surface more easily.

6-Inch Wafer Inspection Microscope for Reliably Observing Small Height Differences

A 6-inch wafer inspection microscope with automated and reproducible DIC (differential interference contrast) imaging, no matter the skill level of users, is described in this article. Manufacturing…

Optical microscope image, which is a composition of both brightfield and fluorescence illumination, showing organic contamination on a wafer surface. The inset images in the upper left corner show the brightfield image (above) and fluorescence image (below with dark background).

Visualizing Photoresist Residue and Organic Contamination on Wafers

As the scale of integrated circuits (ICs) on semiconductors passes below 10 nm, efficient detection of organic contamination, like photoresist residue, and defects during wafer inspection is becoming…

Workflow Solutions for Sample Preparation Methods for Material Science

This brochure presents and explains appropriate workflow solutions for the most frequently required sample preparation methods for material science samples.

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.

Images of the same area of a processed wafer taken with standard (left) and oblique (right) brightfield illumination using a Leica compound microscope. The defect on the wafer surface is clearly more visible with oblique illumination.

Rapid Semiconductor Inspection with Microscope Contrast Methods

Semiconductor inspection during the production of patterned wafers and ICs (integrated circuits) is important for identifying and minimizing defects. To increase the efficiency of quality control in…

Preparation of an IC-chip cross section: grinding and polishing of the chip cross section.

Cross-section Analysis for Electronics Manufacturing

This article describes cross-section analysis for electronics concerning quality control and failure analysis of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and assemblies (PCBAs), integrated circuits (ICs), etc.