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A confocal microscope is a special light microscope that can be used to produce very accurate images of samples. The following graphic shows the schematic body of such a measurement. Laser beams are sent through an excitation pinhole or glass fibers, which reach the sample through various lenses via the microscope stand. The objective directs the two beam paths to a common exposure point, which means that both the illumination point and the excitation pinhole are in focus at the same time (confocal to each other). Due to fluorescence, the laser beams travel from the sample via lenses to a detector, which can generate an overall image from many individual measurements. You can imagine that the sample is not „photographed“ as a whole, but that many individual images are taken in a raster-like manner, which can be made into an overall image using software. This works by moving the microscope stand and, more precisely, the mirror in the x and y directions until all areas have been photographed. Confocal microscopy allows cells or tissue, for example, to be viewed in high resolution and detail

The Michelson interferometer is an interferometer named after the physicist Albert A. Michelson.
The Michelson interferometer utilizes the phenomenon of interference, which can only be observed with coherent light, for example that of a laser.
The graphic illustrates the basic structure of the Michelson interferometer. An interferometer splits a light wave into two parts. These two waves then travel different distances with different propagation times. When they meet, interference occurs.
If the optical path length of one of the two waves is changed, e.g. by moving one of the two mirrors, the phases of the two waves are shifted against each other and thus the interference pattern changes.
By measuring the intensity of the resulting wave, even the smallest changes in the path difference between the two waves can be measured.
One example of an application is the measurement of the thermal expansion of materials. Using the Michelson interferometer, even the slightest expansion can be detected, making the measurement extremely accurate.

Until now, expensive and often unreliable methods such as the SERS- (surface-enhanced Raman scattering) method have been used for ultrasensitive analyses.
A research team from the field of materials science has succeeded in developing a method that should increase performance 50-fold.
A Raman measurement works as shown simplified in the picture. The laser plays a decisive role here, as does the substrate onto which the sample gets placed on.
The team has developed a substrate made of different materials with different characteristics, which together can have a positive effect.
For example, it contains four plasmonic nanostructures, including gold and silver particles, which generate a light-matter interaction.
These interactions are also known as plasmonic effects. Combined with a photocatalytic titanium-oxide-layer to cause a photocatalytic effect, the RAMAN signal is intensified by a factor of 50.
This ensures that the sample can be analysed much more precisely and quickly.
A special feature of the substrate is that it can be cleaned using UV light and can be used up to 20 times, which reduces costs immensely.

In short, focal molography is a nanotechnology-based method that cleverly combines photolithography, molecular self-assembly and state-of-the-art optical technology.
Hereby a 785nm RGB laser light wave hits antibodies, part of the light is diffracted (redirected) at a certain angle, while the angle is defined by the spacing of the antibody lines.

The patented biosensor from lino Biotech AG evaluates the result and finds applications in quality control for cell and gene therapies, drug screening in living cells or point-of-care diagnostics in healthcare.