Defocused wide-field imaging unravels structural and temporal heterogeneity in complex systems

Today's miniature devices and biological systems share the fact that their dynamics and properties cannot be understood in terms of macroscopic concepts, but require a thorough understanding of the nanoscale structuring. This structuring is often very heterogeneous, both in time and in space, and is difficult or impossible to resolve with traditional approaches. In this Progress Report,wewill discusshowsingle-molecule microscopy-and defocused widefield imaging in particular-can be used to shed light on these phenomena.