Synchrotron radiation as a light source in confocal microscopy

The optical properties of a confocal scanning microscope that was designed to utilize a synchrotron as light source are presented. The usable spectral range is from 200 nm up to 700 nm. Using 325-nm laser light, it is shown that the lateral resolution is about 125 nm, and the axial resolution better than 250 nm. After transport of the microscope from Utrecht to the Daresbury Synchrotron Source, 200-nm excitation can be applied, and the lateral resolution will drop to below 100 nm.