Surface:
Technique	Paraffin	Oleamide	Petrolatum	MP paraffin	Permanox	Clean glass
phase contrast	√	√	√	√	√*	√
brightfield	√	√	√	√	√*	√
DIC	√	√	N/T	√	x	√
epifluorescence	√	√	√	√	√*	√
confocal	√	√	√	√	√*	√
TIRF	√	√	N/T	x	x	√
PALM/dSTORM/GSDIM	√	√	N/T	x	x	√
SIM	N/T	N/T	N/T	N/T	N/T	N/T
STED	N/T	√	N/T	N/T	N/T	√
LLSM	√	N/T	N/T	√	N/T	√
Fusion Index	intermediate	intermediate	intermediate	high	intermediate	low
Fusion location	random	random	random	defined	random	random
MP-micropattern
DIC - differential interference contrast
TIRF - total internal reflection fluorescence
PALM - photoactivated localization microscopy
dSTORM - direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy
GSDIM - ground state depletion followed by individual molecule return
SIM - structured illumination
STED - stimulated emission depletion
LLSM - lattice light sheet microscopy
√ - compatible
x - incompatible
√* - possible only with LWD, low magnification, or immersion objectives
N/T - not tested