Preliminary Overview of the Course Topics
Monday
- Resolution, Contrast, Magnification, Lenses: how they work and what they can do. Importance of Numerical Aperture
- Geometrical optics
- Illumination methods
- Choice of optical components
- Summary of setting up the microscope illumination
- Lens aberrations and their correction
Practical: Model microscope on an optical bench, identifying components of the microscope, setting up Koehler illumination
Tuesday
- Diffraction and Image formation
- Demonstration of Abbe’s diffraction experiments
- Methods of enhancing contrast (1): bright field, dark field, phase contrast
Practical: Dark field microscopy, phase contrast microscopy
Wednesday
- Methods of enhancing contrast (2): Polarised light, Differential Interference Contrast (DIC)
- Introduction to fluorescence
Practical: Polarized light microscopy, DIC
Thursday
- Methods of enhancing contrast (3): Fluorescence microscopy
- Introduction to digital imaging using scientific cameras (CCD, sCMOS)
- Introduction into image processing
Practical: Fluorescence microscopy, digital imaging using scientific cameras, image processing with example data
Friday
- Basic introduction to advanced optical sectioning methods and deconvolution (laser scanning confocal microscopy, two photon microscopy, spinning disk confocal microscopy, TIRF microscopy, light-sheet microscopy, super resolution light microscopy
- What you need to know about planning your imaging experiments
- Round table course discussion and evaluation
Practical: Demonstration of key components of advanced imaging systems
The schedule might change slightly during the course to accommodate to students requests.
