Science Lab

Learn. Share. Contribute. The knowledge portal of Leica Microsystems. Find scientific research and teaching material on the subject of microscopy. The portal supports 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.

Spherulitic crystals of hippuric acid, a carboxylic acid found in urine, imaged with crossed polarizers showing so-called Maltese crosses. Spherulitic structures are formed by radial crystal growth starting from a central crystal nucleus. Image recorded with a DM4 P microscope using transmitted light, 20x Plan Fluotar objective, and polarizers.

A Guide to Polarized Light Microscopy

Polarized light microscopy (POL) enhances contrast in birefringent materials and is used in geology, biology, and materials science to study minerals, crystals, fibers, and plant cell walls.

Leitz Laborlux: Tartaric acids, polarization contrast

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,…

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…

Fluorescence microscopy image of liver tissue where DNA in the nuclei are stained with Feulgen-pararosanilin and visualized with transmitted green light.

Epi-Illumination Fluorescence and Reflection-Contrast Microscopy

This article discusses the development of epi-illumination and reflection contrast for fluorescence microscopy concerning life-science applications. Much was done by the Ploem research group…

Molecular structure of the green fluorescent protein (GFP)

Introduction to Fluorescent Proteins

Overview of fluorescent proteins (FPs) from, red (RFP) to green (GFP) and blue (BFP), with a table showing their relevant spectral characteristics.

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.

Spirogyra algae (Conjugation), Transmitted Light Differential Interference Contrast.

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.

Inspection microscope image of a printed circuit board (PCB) taken with a ring light (RL) and near vertical illumination (NVI).

Microscope Illumination for Industrial Applications

Inspection microscope users can obtain information from this article which helps them choose the optimal microscope illumination or lighting system for inspection of parts or components.

Image of MDCK (Madin-Darby canine kidney) cells taken with phase contrast.

Phase Contrast and Microscopy

This article explains phase contrast, an optical microscopy technique, which reveals fine details of unstained, transparent specimens that are difficult to see with common brightfield illumination.