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.

Brightfield image of a pig liver stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE).

Spatial Metabolomics: Exploring Tumor Complexity and Therapeutic Insights

In cancer research, it is vital to understand the interaction between tumor cells and their microenvironment, as the tumor microenvironment influences tumor progression significantly. Spatial…

Mosaic scan of a Masson-Goldner stained cat brain. Magnification: 20x.

Lipidomics Analysis of Sparse Cells based on Laser Microdissection

Delve into cellular intricacies with high-coverage targeted lipidomics analysis of sparse cells. This advanced method, integrating Laser Microdissection (LMD) and Liquid Chromatography-Mass…

Image of magnetic steel taken with a 100x objective using Kerr microscopy. The magnetic domains in the grains appear in the image with lighter and darker patterns. A few domains are marked with red arrows. Courtesy of Florian Lang-Melzian, Robert Bosch GmbH, Germany.

Rapidly Visualizing Magnetic Domains in Steel with Kerr Microscopy

The rotation of polarized light after interaction with magnetic domains in a material, known as the Kerr effect, enables the investigation of magnetized samples with Kerr microscopy. It allows rapid…

Image of murine dopaminergic neurons which have been marked for laser microdissection (LMD).

Neuron Isolation in Spatial Context with Laser Microdissection (LMD)

After Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s is the second most common progressive neurodegenerative disease. Before the first symptoms manifest, up to 70% of dopamine-releasing neurons in the mid-brain…

How did Laser Microdissection enable Pioneering Neuroscience Research?

Dr. Marta Paterlini, a Senior Scientist at the Karolinska Institute, shares her experience of using laser microdissection (LMD) in groundbreaking research into adult human neurogenesis and offers…

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…

Laser Microdissection Protocols for Tissue and Cell Isolation - Download free eBook

In this Bio-protocol Selections, we present a collection of open-access, detailed methods papers using LCM to purify and isolate tissues and cells from plants, mouse embryos, cancer cells, neurons,…

Image of burrs (red arrows) at the edge of a battery electrode acquired with a DVM6 digital microscope.

Burr Detection During Battery Manufacturing

See how optical microscopy can be used for burr detection on battery electrodes and determination of damage potential to achieve rapid and reliable quality control during battery manufacturing.