Fluorescent Dyes Used in STED Microscopy

The following dyes have been successfully used in STED microscopy:
Dye name
(Manufacturer / Distributor)
Exc. Wavelength Exc. Pulse Length STED Wavelength STED Pulse Length Repetition Rate Avg. STED Power Peak Irradiance Pulse Energy Reported Spatial
Resolution (Direction)
Reference(s)
ATTO 532 (ATTO-TEC GmbH) 470 nm 100 ps 615 nm 200 ps 80 MHz 14 – 18 mW     66 – 72 nm (xy) K. Willig et al., Nature  440, 935 (2006)
J. Sieber et al.,
Biophys. J.  90, 2843 (2006)
K. Willig et al.,
New J. Phys.  8, 106 (2006)
ATTO 532 (ATTO-TEC GmbH) 470 nm 80 ps 603 nm 280 ps 250 kHz 0.5 mW   2 nJ <25 nm (xy) G. Donnert et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA  103, 11440 (2006)
ATTO 532 (ATTO-TEC GmbH) 488 nm 100 ps 615 nm 200 ps 80 MHz 16 mW     60 – 70 nm (xy) D. Fitzner et al., EMBO J.  25, 5037 (2006)
R. Kellner,
Neurosci.  144, 135 (2007)
Chromeo 488 (Actif Motif) 488 nm 140 ps 602 nm ~ 160 ps 250 kHz 0.6 mW     < 30 nm (xy) L. Meyer et al., Small, in print (2008).
Chromeo 488 (Actif Motif) 488 nm < 100 ps 590 nm 200 – 300 ps 80 MHz 40 mW     60 – 70 nm (xy) Unpublished Data
DY-485XL (Dyomics GmbH) 488 nm < 100 ps 647 nm ~ 200 ps 72 MHz (20 + 3) mW     40 – 45 nm (xyz) R. Schmidt et al., Nat. Meth.  5, 539 (2008)
GFP 490 nm 100 ps 575 nm 200 ps 80 MHz 7.2 mW     ~ 70 nm (xy) K. Willig et al., Nat. Meth.  3, 721 (2006)
ATTO 565 (ATTO-TEC GmbH) 532 nm ~ 90 ps 640 – 660 nm ~ 90 ps 1 – 2 MHz       30 – 40 nm (xy) D. Wildanger et al., Opt. Expr.  16, 9614 (2008)
ATTO 565 (ATTO-TEC GmbH) 532 nm cw 647 nm cw cw 114 mW     ~ 60 nm (xy) K. Willig et al., Nat. Meth.  4, 915 (2007)
MR 121 SE (Roche Diagnostics) 532 nm 10 ps 793 nm 107 ps 76 MHz 10.4 mW     ~ 50 nm (z) M. Dyba et al., Nat. Biotech.  21, 1303 (2003)
NK51 (ATTO-TEC GmbH) 532 nm < 100 ps 647 nm ~ 200 ps 72 MHz (20 + 3) mW     40 – 45 nm (xyz) R. Schmidt et al., Nat. Meth.  5, 539 (2008)
Sulfonated & rigidized
rhodamine derivatives (V. Boyarskiy, NanoBiophotonics, MPI Gφttingen)
532 nm 100 ps 640 nm ~ 300 ps 80 MHz   40 MW/cm2   < 90 nm (xy) V. Boyarskiy et al., Chem. Eur. J. 14, 1784 (2008)
Pyridine 2 / LDS 722
(Exciton, Radiant Dyes GmbH)
554 nm 250 fs 760 nm 13 ps 76 MHz       33 nm (z) M. Dyba, S.W. Hell, Phys. Rev. Lett.  88, 163901 (2002)
Pyridine 2 / LDS 722
(Exciton, Radiant Dyes GmbH)
554 nm 250 fs 745 nm 50 – 200 ps   12.2 mW     44 nm (z) M. Dyba et al., New. J. Phys.  7, 134 (2005)
RH 414 (Invitrogen Corp.) 554 nm 250 fs 745 nm 13 ps 76 MHz 8.78 mW     30 nm (z) M. Dyba, S.W. Hell, Phys. Rev. Lett.  88, 163901 (2002)
ATTO 590 (ATTO-TEC GmbH) 570 nm ~ 90 ps 690 – 710 nm ~ 90 ps 1 – 2 MHz       30 – 40 nm (xy) D. Wildanger et al., Opt. Expr. 16, 9614 (2008)
ATTO 633 (ATTO-TEC GmbH) 630 nm ~ 90 ps 735 – 755 nm ~ 90 ps 1 – 2 MHz       30 – 40 nm (xy) D. Wildanger et al., Opt. Expr.  16, 9614 (2008)
ATTO 633 (ATTO-TEC GmbH) 635 nm 100 ps 750 nm ~ 200 ps 76 MHz     ~ 1.5 nJ 40 nm (xy) A. Punge et al., Micr. Res. Techn., DOI 10.1002/jemt.20602
ATTO 647N (ATTO-TEC GmbH) 635 nm cw 750 nm cw cw 423 mW     ~ 50 nm (xy) K. Willig et al., Nat. Meth.  4, 915 (2007)
ATTO 647N (ATTO-TEC GmbH) 635 nm 100 ps 780 nm 300 ps 250 kHz   700 MW/cm2   ~ 65 nm (xy) G. Donnert et al., Biophys. J.: Biophys. Lett., L67 (2007)
V. Westphal et al.,
Science  320, 247 (2008)
JA 26 (K.H. Drexhage, Siegen University) 635 nm 68 ps 781 nm 303 ps 40 MHz 10.1 mW     40 nm (x) V. Westphal et al., Appl. Phys. B.  77, 377 (2003)
JA 26 (K.H. Drexhage, Siegen University) 635 nm 68 ps 775 nm 300 ps 76 MHz   800 MW/cm2   16 nm (x) V. Westphal, S.W. Hell, Phys. Rev. Lett.  94, 143903 (2005)
JA 26 (K.H. Drexhage, Siegen University) 635 nm 68 ps 780 nm 300 ps 80 MHz 90 – 100 mW     47 nm (xy) V. Westphal et al., J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys.  38, S695 (2005)
JA 26 (K.H. Drexhage, Siegen University) 637 nm 54 ps 778 – 785 nm 303 ps 40 MHz       120 – 140 nm (xy) V. Westphal et al., Appl. Phys. Lett.  82, 3125 (2003)

Compilation:Lars Kastrup <lkastru@gwdg.de>
Last change: 02-Jun-2009 02:30 PM