Practical Structured Illumination Microscopy

Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) is a method that can double the spatial resolution of wide-field fluorescence microscopy in three dimensions by using spatially structured illumination light. In this chapter, we introduce the basic principles of SIM and describe in detail several different implementations based on either a diffraction grating or liquid crystal spatial light modulators. We also describe nonlinear SIM, a method that in theory can achieve unlimited resolution. In addition, we discuss a number of key points important for high-resolution imaging.