When using oil or water immersion objectives, precise temperature control requires the use of an objective heater to avoid a temperature gradient in the observation filed. One alternative is to enclose the specimen, objective and part of the microscope inside a closed chamber regulated in temperature. The chamber also allows for atmospheric control such as CO2 content via a regulator.
The facility has acquired environmental chambers from Precision Plastics (Zeiss LSM 510 and Leica DMRIB) and from Opelco (Olympus TIRF microscope). The Precision Plastic chambers include an air blower from World Precision Instrument and a CO2 regulator. When temperature control is not critical, a simple manifold located inside the heated chamber is adequate. However, for long-term experiment where focus changes due to temperature gradients must be avoided at all cost, we recommend using at least a heated manifold such as the Harvard pen. Note the Zeiss LSM 510 inverted is equipped with a secondary chamber containing the pump, valve bank and buffer solution, which alleviate the need for an extra heated manifold.
