A new objective for the SPE2 system has arrived (HC PL APO CS2 NA1.3, oil immersion). It is  installed but not fully funtional yet, fluorescence transmission is way better than the old 40x. However, optimal DIC imaging with this objective is not possible yet, we are waiting for the correct condensor prism for this.

An unfortunate accident forced the move of the Olympus/Leica system to the corridor next to our offices (Room O123A). The old room (O122) needs a good (airco) cleaning session before new equipment can be placed.  The imaging system is fully serviced and functional at its new location.  

We are pleased to tell about the new equipment that is ordered and on its way to the CCI. Thanks to the generous funding of the Utrecht University Board to support facilities in the Utrecht Science community, we are able to upgrade the CCI with an OMX-V4 blaze. It again is the collaboration between the Stoorvogel…

The LEICA SPEII system has serious PC issues with regular crashes (system freeze while scanning, panel box loss and the never ending story on the 561 nm laser that starts ever so slowly) . Make sure you save often and report to us when it happens. We are in the process of replacing the PC,…

The Atomic Force microscope has been moved to the chemistry department. The group of Igmar Swart who works on the chemistry and physics of 2D materials (www) is dedicated to AFM imaging assuring frequent operation  and service of the system. Contact Igmar, Joost van der Lit or Bart Gadella if you have imaging questions for this microscope.

Last Thursday, the 30th of October, the PC of the Leica SPE-II confocal crashed, this is already the second crash of the PC this year (we had the HD replaced just a half a year ago). We are trying to get the system running again in the next few days, but rely on ICT support…

We bought a new shutter to rapidly block halogen light in time recordings using the EM-CCD camera of the NIKON imaging station. Previously, intervals between fluorescent observation and DIC recording required warming up the halogen lamp for at least 4 seconds. Now the light path is rapidly switchable in milliseconds and is incorporated into the…

This week (Tue 8/7/2014) the hard disk of the SPEII system crashed. We had to remove it and re-install windows. The data on the extracted disk is very poorly readable and thus data and settings of users are essentially lost. Since all users are highly disciplined in their data backup procedures (?!) we can easily retrieve…

On April 2nd, a Leica service engineer will try and fix the 561 nm laserline that very slowly starts. Also, the galvo x- and y- motors are going to be checked, they make strange sounds when stopping a scan, a recurring defect it seems.

Today, NIKON replaced the DIC NII-slider for 100x for the DIC-R variant, it solves the issue of spherical aberration caused by the DIC-II which was obvious in calibration bead imaging. The condensor DIC-R module works fine for the 60x lens with DIC NII slider in place.