The Principle of the ibidi Chambers: The Coverslip Bottom

The outstanding characteristic of the ibidi µ-Slides, µ-Dishes, and µ-Plates is their thin coverslip bottom, which has excellent features for high-end microscopy applications. ibidi offers labware with the ibidi Polymer Coverslip bottom or the ibidi Glass Coverslip bottom.

Find more information about the ibidi Coverslip bottom solutions here.

	#1.5 ibidi Polymer Coverslip	#1.5H ibidi Glass Coverslip	#1.5 glass coverslip	Standard glass slide*
Bottom thickness	180 µm (+10/–5 µm)	170 µm (+/–5 µm)	170 µm (+20/–10 µm)	1 mm
Bottom material	Polymer	D 263 M Schott high precision glass	D 263 M Schott high precision glass	Glass
Gas permeability	Yes	No	No	No

* With the 3 Well | 8 Well | 12 Well Chamber Slide, removable, ibidi provides self-adhesive, removable silicone chambers that are mounted on a standard glass slide. They are suitable for upright and inverted microscopy and enable long-term storage of samples after immunofluorescence staining.

Immersion Oil Compatibility of ibidi Labware

Oil immersion is used to increase the resolution of the objective, up to its physical limit. Placing immersion oil instead of air between the objective lens and the coverslip allows for a significantly higher amount of light to be collected by the lens. This, in turn, increases the resolution and the signal-to-noise ratio in microscopic images.

For high-resolution microscopy, cell culture chambers need to be compatible with immersion oil. All ibidi μ-Slides, μ-Dishes, and μ-Plates are compatible with a variety of commonly used immersion oils.

Which immersion oils are compatible with ibidi products?

The Surfaces of the ibidi Chambers: Choose the Ideal Solution for Your Assay

Growth, development, and signaling of cultured cells strongly depend on which surface was used to seed the cells. ibidi offers several surfaces and coatings for different applications. The ibidi μ-Slides, μ-Dishes, and μ-Plates can be coated in a similar process to standard plastic labware, while fully retaining image quality. In our Application Note Cell Culture Coating (AN 08) (PDF), you will find detailed information on how to do your own coating on µ-Slides.

ibidi Surfaces:

• ibiTreat (Tissue Culture-Treated) Surface: Excellent Cell Adhesion
• Hydrophobic, Uncoated Surface: Weak Cell Adhesion
• Bioinert Surface: No Cell Adhesion
• Glass: Application of specific coatings; TIRF or super-resolution microscopy; glass chemistry applications
• Elastically Supported Surface (ESS): Culture of adherent cells on an elastic surface

ibidi Coatings:

• Collagen I: Culture of adherent cells that require a specific extracellular matrix (ECM) on the surfac
• Collagen IV: Culture of adherent cells that require a specific extracellular matrix (ECM) on the surface
• Poly-L-Lysine: Culture of adherent cells that require a specific extracellular matrix (ECM) on the surface

The Geometry of the ibidi Chambers: Optimized for Your Application

We provide imaging chambers with various geometries that are specifically tailored to your assay.

Read more about the geometry of the different ibidi chambers here.

• All-In-One Chambers: All Steps in One Single Slide
• Channel Slides: Homogenous Cell Growth & Optimized Phase Contrast Microscopy
• Ph+ Slides: Excellent Meniscus-Free Phase Contrast Microscopy

Chamber Geometry

Open-Well Format

• Common formats
• Easy handling
• Large volume

Channel Format

• Excellent imaging
• Homogeneous cell distribution
• Low volume

Specialized Geometry

• Designed for specific uses (e.g., gradients or gel matrices)