Correlative microscopy – seeing at different angles

Microscopic techniques allow to investigate samples based on various contrasts such as optical, electron or magnetic. Although specialized microscopic techniques often yield convincing and sufficient information, there are many systems where just one kind of contrast does not give the whole picture and needs complementary technique. A well-known example is the combination of electron and optical microscopy especially in biological applications: Where electron microscopy gives insight into the molecular dimensions with nanometre resolution, it can not elucidate the dynamics of the biological system. This dynamic is easily visualized by optical methods, which miss the sub-wavelength resolution. The application of such two complementary methods is known as multi-modal or complementary microscopy.