Ruckstuhl T Seeger S 2004 We report a confocal total-internal-reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscope that generates a detection volume for analyte molecules of less than 5 al (5 x 10(-18) l) at a water-glass interface. Compared with conventional confocal microscopy, this represents a reduction of almost 2 orders of magnitude, which is important in isolating individual molecules at high analyte concentrations, where many biologically relevant processes occur. Diffraction-limited supercritical focusing and fluorescence collection is accomplished by a parabolic mirror objective. The system delivers TIRF images with excellent spatial resolution and detects single molecules with a high signal-to-background ratio. https://sonar.ch/global/documents/219227 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1364/ol.29.000569 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/15035473 Optics letters. - 2004 Biochemistry Equipment Design Microscopy, Confocal Microscopy, Fluorescence Scattering, Radiation Attoliter detection volumes by confocal total-internal-reflection fluorescence microscopy. http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501