= Stimulated emission depletion microscopy
= STED microscopy
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<Stimulated emission depletion microscopy> narrows the region from which detected <fluorescence> is allowed to originate. After excitation, a second beam drives <stimulated emission> in the surrounding region; a central minimum of that depletion beam leaves a smaller region able to emit the collected <fluorescence>.
Scanning this region builds an image with detail beyond an ordinary excitation-only <diffraction limit>. The depletion <light> must be rejected from the detection channel, and the central minimum must be well aligned with the excitation focus. Increasing depletion <intensity> can narrow the effective emitting region, but bleaching, background and specimen changes limit the useful improvement.<Breaking the diffraction resolution limit by stimulated emission: stimulated-emission-depletion fluorescence microscopy by Stefan W. Hell and others>[1994 proposal, abstract and Figure 2: excitation followed by spatially selective depletion]{ref}
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