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!

Visualization of DNA Molecules

Precise low angle rotary shadowing with heavy metals (like platinum) can be used in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to observe molecular details of objects previously absorbed on a thin, low…

The Future of Fluorescence in Vascular Neurosurgery

In vascular neurosurgery, surgical microscopes are used to provide a magnified and illuminated view of the surgical field. Although surgeons benefit greatly from the superb image quality and optical…

Light sheet microscopy tilescan of zebrafish.

Using U-Shaped Glass Capillaries for Sample Mounting

The DLS microscope system from Leica Microsystems is an innovative concept which integrates the Light Sheet Microscopy technology into the confocal platform. Due to its unique optical architecture,…

The Fundamentals and History of Fluorescence and Quantum Dots

At some point in your research and science career, you will no doubt come across fluorescence microscopy. This ubiquitous technique has transformed the way in which microscopists can image, tag and…

Spherical aberration describes the fact that waves which pass through the centre of the lens are refracted less than the waves which pass through the edges of the curved lens.

Eyepieces, Objectives and Optical Aberrations

This article covers the components of the eyepieces and how to adjust them correctly to suit your eyes.

Multiphoton microscopy of an unstained mouse skin section acquired using the 4Tune detector.

Mission Impossible Accomplished: Tunable Colors for Non-descanning Detection

Leica Microsystems’ 4Tune detector, the key component of the SP8 DIVE Deep In Vivo Explorer, provides spectrally tunable image recording with non-descanning detection. An innovative solution for…

Koehler Illumination: A Brief History and a Practical Set Up in Five Easy Steps

In this article, we will look at the history of the technique of Koehler Illumination in addition to how to adjust the components in five easy steps.

Mammalian cell culure. Phase contrast and fluorescence image.

Introduction to Mammalian Cell Culture

Mammalian cell culture is one of the basic pillars of life sciences. Without the ability to grow cells in the lab, the fast progress in disciplines like cell biology, immunology, or cancer research…

Collecting Light: The Importance of Numerical Aperture in Microscopy

Numerical aperture (abbreviated as ‘NA’) is an important consideration when trying to distinguish detail in a specimen viewed down the microscope. NA is a number without units and is related to the…