Super Resolution/ Stimulated Emission Depletion microscopy (STED)

STED (Stimulated Emission Depletion Microscopy) uses two laser pulses, the excitation pulse for excitation of the fluorophores to their fluorescent state and the STED pulse for the de-excitation of fluorophores by means of Stimulated emission. It allows one to achieve super resolution by selectively deactivating fluorophores in the vicinity of the focal spot, with engineered depletion laser beams, to reduce the emission and detection volumes and to enhance the final resolution of the laser-scanned image.