Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF)

The Wolfson Bioimaging Facility provides total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRF) with its multi-laser, dual-camera Olympus/Abbelight SAFe360 system which also offers single molecule super-resolution imaging.

TIRF microscopy provides extremely high axial resolution by exciting the fluorophores with an evanescent field (caused when the illuminating laser reflects off the glass/water or glass/sample interface) rather than a lamp or laser. This evanescent field only penetrates 50-150 nm into the sample providing extremely high signal to noise, as those fluorophores found further than this from the interface are not excited.

Abbelight TIRF + SM technical specifications (PDF, 160kB)

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