The Axion Lux3 FL is a small fluorescence live-cell imaging microscope equipped with one brightfield and two fluorescent channels (green and red). The device enables researchers to unravel cellular processes in real-time, providing lots of valuable data about the experiments and answers if, when, how, and to what extend the cellular processes occur. Axion’s first fluorescent cell imaging device allows users to track dynamic cellular processes with high specificity by taking high-quality images to create real-time time-lapse movies. Simultaneously, the cells are kept in a controlled environment inside a standard cell culture incubator.

Live-cell imaging allows researchers to determine not only whether, but also how and when certain biological events occur in cell culture. In order to achieve the high image quality standards required for data analysis and publications, live-cell imaging is performed predominantly using a microscope with a stage top incubation box. However, the culture conditions in the incubation box are more prone to fluctuations, as compared to a dedicated cell culture incubator. Using the Axion Lux3 BR, it is no longer necessary to choose between optimal cell culture conditions and image quality.

Nanoscale Imaging Has Never Been Easier

Collect nanoscale topography data on your benchtop in three clicks with the nGauge AFM.

ICSPI has integrated all of the components of a traditional AFM onto a single 1 mm x 1 mm chip to create the world’s first single-chip AFM. That means that 250 AFMs can fit on the face of a penny.

The nGauge AFM uses micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) to control the X, Y and Z position of the tip. This means that no alignment of lasers is required.

The nGauge is the smallest AFM in the world. Because the entire unit weighs less than 500 grams, the nGauge rejects building vibrations, so no vibration isolation table is needed, which makes the nGauge a true benchtop AFM.

What can I use AFM for?

AFM provides topographical data of a surface. That means that you can look at the shape and size of individual features, such as the pits on a DVD, or look at the particle density, such as the number of nanoparticles in an area.

The nGauge AFM can be used to investigate surfaces where the features are up to 10 µm tall. It’s tricky to pinpoint a lower limit, but the RMS noise in the vertical (z) direction of the nGauge is 1 nanometre (nm). So, depending on your requirements, features as small as 5–10 nm can be imaged with the nGauge with acceptable accuracy.

To put what a nanometer is into perspective, a quarter (25-cent coin) is about 2 cm wide. An E. coli bacterium cell is 2 µm wide (10,000× smaller than a quarter). And the diameter of a DNA helix is 2 nm (1,000× smaller than a bacterium).