Development of Novel Imaging Modalities for Soft Matter

In the past 100 years, a plethora of new microscopy and spectroscopy techniques have been developed, allowing biologists to probe the inner workings of cells and organisms in greater detail than ever before. These techniques, many enabled by the application of fluorescent molecules, range from super-resolution, which reveals structures smaller than the physical limit of resolution to be viewed without resorting to electron microscopy, to techniques capable of detecting nanometre changes in the shape of individual molecules and many more. These approaches are not without drawbacks, however. Super-resolution often results in high levels of phototoxicity, presenting issues for live cell imaging and almost all modern techniques place high demands on hardware and software; if the hardware and software is not sufficiently well designed, these complexities are passed on to end users. This thesis outlines developments to the CairnFocal platform, a DMD based confocal microscope, capable of super-resolution and real-time modality switching. The creation of software to support the novel smfBox open-source confocal smFRET microscope is also described.