title: Dynamic imaging of colloidal-crystal nanostructures at 200 frames per second.
abstract: The dynamic noninvasive imaging of colloidal nanostructures has been precluded by the diffraction-limited resolution of (confocal) light microscopy. Using Fast Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) microscopy, we demonstrate the ability to resolve the formation of a colloidal crystal (monolayer) from particles of 200 nm size, where the voids in the crystal are as small as 30 nm. With a temporal resolution of 5 ms, we exemplify the technique by visualizing the annealing of potential point defects during the formation of the colloidal crystal.
authors: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37075 Göttingen, Germany.
authors: Marcel A
authors: MA
authors: Lauterbach
authors: Chaitanya K
authors: CK
authors: Ullal
authors: Volker
authors: V
authors: Westphal
authors: Stefan W
authors: SW
authors: Hell
mesh_terms: D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods*; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids