Hacking the optical diffraction limit: Review on recent developments of fluorescence nanoscopy

Subject to the diffraction limit, the resolution of conventional optical microscopy is constrained to about 200 and 500 nm in the lateral and axial planes, respectively. The advantage of optical microscopy in the life sciences over electronic microscopy, especially fluorescence microscopy, drives scientists to develop novel hacks to reach nanoscale resolutions by optical means. In this review, three aspects of the techniques are discussed: (1) lateral super-resolution; (2) axial super-resolution; (3) super-...