Abstract

Lasers are widely used in biological applications to detect fluorescent molecules which probe the structure and activities of cells, cellular components, and biomolecules. Dye molecules used in biological systems are often referred to as “probe molecules” or “probes”. Lasers are often selected over other excitation sources such as arc lamps because of the power density, the increased intensity when imaging faint or dilute fluorophores and the advantages of monochromatic sources for reducing stray light from turbid biological samples. The applications introduced in this paper include observing molecules and cells in suspension by spectroscopy, flow cytometry, and microscopy.

© 1994 Optical Society of America