Method and apparatus for tracking particles, especially single molecules, in a sample

摘要

For tracking a movement of a particle (2) in a sample (3), the particle (2) is driven by light (4) to emit photons, and the photons emitted by the particle (2) are detected. The light (4) applied to the sample (4) comprises an intensity distribution (18) with a spatially limited minimum (19); and the particle (2) is tracked with the minimum (19) of the intensity distribution (18) of the light by moving the intensity distribution (18) relative to the sample (3) such that a rate of photons emitted by the particle (2) remains minimal.