Stefan Hell

Stefan Hell is a German physicist who developed fluorescence microscopy methods that surpass the diffraction limit of light. He shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Ernst Abbe: Ernst Abbe was a German physicist whose theory established the diffraction-limited resolution of optical microscopes. Abbe’s resolution limit was the obstacle Hell’s microscopy methods were designed to overcome.
Stimulated emission depletion microscopy: Stimulated emission depletion microscopy uses a doughnut-shaped depletion beam to confine fluorescence to a subdiffraction region. Hell developed STED, the technique most directly associated with his approach to super-resolution.
Nanoscopy: Nanoscopy comprises imaging methods that resolve structures at scales smaller than conventional optical microscopy permits. Hell’s techniques established optical nanoscopy as a practical way to image biological structures.
Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry: The Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry was a research institute in Göttingen, Germany, focused on biological and physical chemistry. Hell developed STED microscopy while working at this institute.
Stefan W. Hell’s research group: Stefan W. Hell’s research group at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences develops optical microscopy methods. Hell led the group where key super-resolution techniques were developed.
Reversible saturable optical fluorescence transitions: Reversible saturable optical fluorescence transitions microscopy switches fluorescent molecules between emitting and non-emitting states to achieve super-resolution. RESOLFT generalizes Hell’s strategy of controlling fluorescence with patterned light.
Synaptic vesicle: A synaptic vesicle is a membrane-bound organelle that stores and releases neurotransmitters at a neuronal synapse. STED microscopy has been used to study nanoscale organization and movement of synaptic vesicles.
Göttingen: Göttingen is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, known for its university and scientific institutions. Hell’s research career and the institute where he developed STED are based in Göttingen.
Eric Betzig: Eric Betzig is an American physicist who developed photoactivated localization microscopy and shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Betzig shared Hell’s Nobel Prize for a distinct route to fluorescence-microscopy super-resolution.
Fluorescence microscopy: Fluorescence microscopy forms images from light emitted by fluorescent molecules in a specimen. Hell’s methods refine fluorescence microscopy rather than replacing its molecular labeling principle.

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