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User Guide to the IBIF Leica TCS SP8 MP Confocal Microscope
This version: 7.24.14.
Introduction
The IBIF confocal microscope is made available on a fee-for-use-hour basis to all users who have been
trained. Unlike our previous instrument, it has a number of hardware features, specifically the
objectives, the stage, and the condensers, that can be added or removed by the user, with the
permission of the Imaging Specialist. To minimize inconvenience to other users, and to reduce the risk
of inadvertent damage to the equipment, we ask that users obey two rules:
1)
Leave the confocal as you found it. Replace and/or reset everything that you modified.
2)
Be aware that other users may have failed to obey rule 1. Be alert, especially in regard to
mechanicals such as stage translation, condenser height, and objective rotation.
Thank you, and we wish you every success in your imaging. We are here to help.
The Confocal Microscope and Accessories
The instrument is a Leica TCS SP8 MP confocal
microscope, equipped for multi-photon confocal
microscopy. The components are the microscope
body, two automated stages, the scan head, the
electro-optical modulator (EOM), the monitor
and computer, and the Spectra-Physics Mai-Tai
tunable near-IR laser.
The items on the desk (along with the monitor,
keyboard, and mouse) consist of a confocal
controller, a microscope controller, a metal-
halide power source (which performs the
function of the Hg bulb in the previous system),
and a controller for the Dodt contrast
enhancement system (which replaces the
Nomarski contrast enhancement method of the
previous system).
The unlabeled switch is a shutter for the
Mai Tai laser and should only be needed in
emergencies in which the beam is exposed.
