Laser-diode-stimulated emission depletion microscopy

Abstract

We report subdiffraction resolution in far-field fluorescence microscopy through laser-diode-stimulated emission depletion of molecular markers. The diode-generated focal intensities lead to a resolution improvement by ∼45% in both lateral directions. Excitation and stimulated emission are performed with electronically synchronized diode pulses of 50–70 ps and 300–400 ps duration, respectively. The subdiffraction resolution is utilized to resolve neighboring individual molecules.