Confocal Microscope
ZEISS LSM 900 for Materials

ZEISS LSM 900, the confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) from ZEISS, is the one instrument you will need for materials analysis. Characterize 3D microstructures surfaces topography in your lab or multi-user facility. LSM 900 enables precise, three-dimensional imaging and analyses of nanomaterials, metals, polymers, and semiconductors. Extend your upright light microscope, ZEISS Axio Imager.Z2m or your inverted light microscope ZEISS Axio Observer 7, with a confocal scanning module. Combine all essential light microscopy contrasting techniques for materials with high precision topography. With no the need to change microscopes, you’ll save time on set-up. Benefit from automated data acquisition and post-processing. Execute non-contact confocal imaging when evaluating surface roughness.

LSM 900, your high-end confocal platform, is made for demanding materials applications, both in 2D and 3D.

• Characterize topographic structures and evaluate surface roughness with non-contact confocal imaging
  
• Determine the thickness of coatings and thin films non-destructively
  
• Use a range of imaging techniques including polarization and fluorescence in optical contrast or in confocal mode
  
• Characterize metallographic specimens in reflected light or thin section of rock or polymer in transmitted light
  

Reduce set-up times and speed up your time-to-result by performing analyses and imaging without having to change microscopes.

• Optimize your processes with automated data acquisition at multiple positions on your sample
  
• Simply define a region of interest on your overview image and acquire only the area you need
  
• You have the advantage of full flexibility in size and orientation of the ROI with a scanning field of 6144 x 6144 pixels
  
• Take full control of your data and their post-processing
  

A confocal unit extends your widefield investigations capacity:

• Upgrade your Axio Imager.Z2m or your Axio Observer 7 with LSM 900 and take advantage of its versatility in hardware, e.g. objectives, stages and illumination as well as software and interfaces
  
• Add ZEN Intellesis, a machine learning-based solution for image segmentation and identify phases
  
• Or add ZEN Connect to overlay and organize images from any source when performing multi-modal experiments
  
• Or perform smart data management with ZEN Data Storage
  
• Or expand your confocal microscope with Shuttle & Find for correlative microscopy. It offers a workflow from a light to an electron microscope – and vice versa. Effectively combine imaging and analytical methods. Access information in material analysis applications. Absolutely reproducible.

LSM 900 is a confocal laser scanning microscope that uses laser light in a confocal beam path to capture defined optical sections of your sample and combine them in a three-dimensional image stack. Its aperture (usually called a pinhole) is arranged in such a way that out-of-focus information will be blocked and only in-focus information can be detected.

• An image is generated by scanning in x,y-direction. In-focus information appears bright while out-of-focus information is dark.
• By changing the distance between sample and objective lens, the sample is optically sectioned and an image stack is generated.
• By analyzing the intensity distribution of a single pixel through the image stack you can calculate the corresponding height. The height information over the whole field of view can then be combined to form a height map.
  
  

• Customize and automate your workflows. When you need functionality beyond the basic ZEN software you can exchange data with established third-party analysis and research software, like MATLAB.
• Create your own macro solution. Enjoy the benefits of an easy access to a vital set of ZEN functions and the ability to include libraries such as the.Net Framework.
  

ConfoMap is the ideal option to visualize and inspect surface topography in 3D.

• Evaluate the quality and functional performance of surfaces in accordance with the latest metrology standards, e.g. ISO 25178.
• Include comprehensive geometric, functional and roughness studies – and create detailed surface analysis reports.
• Add optional modules for advanced surface texture analysis, contour analysis, grains and particle analysis, 3D Fourier analysis, analysis of surface evolution, and statistics.

Extend the application range of your confocal microscope and select between two options:

• Imaging with high lateral resolution up to 120 nm is possible with the single-channel system with an ultraviolet laser module (405 nm wavelength), corresponds to a laser class 2 product
  
• When performing applications like imaging cell growth on biomaterials, configure the LSM 900 with the four laser wavelengths – laser module URGB (with 405, 488, 561, 640 nm). This multi-excitation wavelength allows for detecting the distribution of fluorescent components