Leica Stellaris 8 is the successor to the SP-8X confocal with the addition of  Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) based super-resolution (down to ~20nm) and Fluorescence Lifetime Microscopy (FLIM) imaging. The Stellaris 8 is outfitted with a pulsed white light laser providing illumination from 440-790 nm and five power HyD detectors for increased sensitivity.

FLIM records the period of time between a fluorophore’s excitation and it’s emission;  the fluorescence lifetime. Fluorescence lifetime can be exploited to distinguish fluorescent molecules with similar or overlapping emission spectra, used as to determine FRET efficiency, remove autofluorescence, fluorescence biosensing, etc.

STED uses a “depletion” laser bring of the excitation beam below the diffraction limit. With the appropriate fluorescent labels, STED can achieve pixel dimensions of ~20^2nm in the xy plane.

Objectives	Laser Lines	Depletion Lines
10x dry 0.3NA
16x multiimmersion 0.6NA	405nm	592nm
20x oil 0.75NA	440-790nm (Supercontinuum white light laser)	775nm
93x Gly moto corr. 1.3NA
100x oil 1.4NA