Diatom Shop is the official online store of Diatom Lab! Select the Buy Now button to view all our products.
Our preparations are made for eternity and allow you to observe Diatoms and other microscopic objects in Very High Definition!
Diatom Lab is the scientific laboratory founded in 2016 (VAT: IT 01635810193) specializing in:
1) Microscope test slides. Discover micro and nano structures through our exclusive techniques! Our diatom test slides are trusted by leading microscope manufacturers for quality control and customer demonstrations.
Download the free article by this link: Barone, S. 2023. Diatoms: the best microscopic objects to check, set and compare optical microscopes and contrast techniques, Microscopy and Analysis, 65: 13-18 (ISSN 2049-4424).
2) Microscope slides of selected or strewn Diatoms, Radiolarians, Foraminifera (and other microscopic specimens) for optical microscopy, electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy.
Diatom
Lab produces microscope slides of the highest caliber. Our laboratory
stands out through the use of unique, cutting-edge materials and
proprietary procedures. While we supply major microscope
manufacturers, universities, and government agencies, we also welcome
private collectors and enthusiasts. All products are created in our
in-house laboratory. Please note: our professional-grade materials
require specialized instrumentation that goes beyond the capabilities
of a standard laboratory. For example our high refractive index
mounting media are not sold separately as they require specific
professional tools. At Diatom Lab, we offer meaningful products
that bridge science, art, and culture. With your purchase, you
support the rare and noble art of professional diatom mounting - a
craft now on the verge of extinction! You are also advancing
modern research, ensuring these microscopic wonders are preserved and
admired at their absolute best.
3) Microscale and nanoscale materials for research.
4) Optical aberrations detectors and Micrometers.
5) Microscopy imaging services and publications. We provide scientific imaging services using our state-of-the-art Zeiss Axio Imager.A2 and other microscopes in full-frame camera format. Various illumination techniques are available. Click on this link to download the PDF file with the Diatom Lab Zeiss Axio Imager.A2 microscope configuration (objectives, condensers, etc.). We also provide Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) imaging. We can image your specimens, or specimens we prepare on your behalf. Please contact us to discuss your requirements.
OUR CLIENTS:
Diatom Lab counts among its customers many leading research centers, universities, colleges, environmental organizations, and microscope companies from around the world, including:
CNRS - IEMN, Institute of Electronics, Microelectronics and Nanotechnology (France), Australian National Measurement Institute (Australian Government, Department of Industry, Science and Resources), Institut d'optique Graduate School / Institute of optics (France), Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH (Jena, Germany), Leica Microsystems Inc. (Buffalo Grove, IL, USA), Deutsches Optisches Museum (Jena, Germany), Optika microscopes (Ponteranica, BG, Italy), Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry (Prague, Czech Republic), Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, USA), Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA, USA), Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (Los Angeles, CA, USA), Dorset County Museum (Dorchester, United Kingdom), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (New York, USA), Rockefeller University (New York, USA), Eastern Washington University (Washington, USA), University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, USA), Institute of Biology Leiden University (Leiden, The Netherlands), Hohai University 河海大学 (Nanjing, China), Chan Zuckerberg Biohub (San Francisco, CA, USA), Sainsbury Wellcome Centre - UCL (London, United Kingdom), University of South Bohemia České Buděovice (České Buděovice, Czech Republic), Yonsei University Industry Foundation (Seoul, Republic of Korea), Italian National Research Council or CNR (Italy), TUMCREATE (a multidisciplinary research platform of the Technical University of Munich – TUM - at the Singapore Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise), Gymnase de Morges (Morges, Switzerland), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Andor Technology Ltd (Belfast, England), Biozol Diagnostica Vertrieb (Germany), Nanolive Sa (Switzerland), Edinburgh Instruments Ltd. (Livingston, United Kingdom), MKT engineering GmbH & Co. KG (Berlin, Germany), OptiXs s.r.o., Laser and Laboratory Instruments (Czech Republic), Dalcon Environmental (Australia), Eurofins Environment Testing (Australia), Greencolab (Universidad do Algarve, Portugal), Navitar (Rochester, NY, USA), Junia ISEN - Institut Supérieur de l'Electronique et du Numérique (Lille, France), Alfred Wegener Institute (Germany), Eurofins Scientific (New Zealand), Fundació Bosch i Gimpera, Universitat de Barcelona (Spain), Polytechnic University of Turin (Italy), in addition to many private customers who purchase our diatom preparations.
While we primarily sell through our website, we occasionally use eBay to reach a broader audience of private collectors and enthusiasts. To read feedback from our private customers, please visit our official eBay store (link), where we maintain a 100% positive rating over thousands of transactions.
THEY WROTE ABOUT US:
David Walker is the editor of Micscape Magazine:
- Walker D., 2024. Exploring the Diatom Lab test slide Pinnularia dactylus var. dariana (A. Schmidt) Cleve 1895 at ca. 400 nm, Micscape Magazine, 339 (ISSN 1365 - 070x) "Some time ago I treated myself to three single species diatom test slides prepared by Stefano Barone of Diatom Lab but it is only recently that I have started to explore them. From previous slides purchased I knew they were prepared to the very highest standards with the diatom touching the under side of the high spec. coverslip and use a proprietary Diatom Cubed high RI 1.7 mountant. A variety of test slides can be bought on the dedicated www.diatomshop.com website";
- Walker D., 2021. Note on 'diatom dotting' at low magnifications. Resolving Stauroneis phoenicenteron, Micscape Magazine, 306 (ISSN 1365 – 070x) “Acknowledgement: The author used the invaluable 'Test Slide version 2.0' (Diatom Cubed mountant) supplied by Stefano Barone of Diatom Lab"
- Walker D., Exploring the Diatom Lab prepared slide of an integrated circuit chip, Micscape Magazine, April 2020, Issue 289, ISSN 1365 – 070x: "The slide is impeccably prepared / mounted", "In my view the slide is excellent value for money and maintains the high standards set by the Diatom Lab shop (I have a number of the diatom slides)";
- Bulletin of the Quekett Microscopical Club, Nov 2019, No.77, ISSN 1350-9128, pp 22-25: the article recognizes Diatom Lab preparations as expertly-prepared and three microscope images of our slides have been published, such as a detail of the Diatom Test Slide version 2.0 with the comment “image chosen by editor to show the incredible resolution of this excellent slide”;
- JMC Scientific Consulting Ltd, Jonathan Crowther, “UV microscopy –Designing a UV condenser” Last modified October 26, 2020, jmcscientificconsulting.com: "As a quick test I imaged a sample slide of Gorgonian sea fan spicules (from Diatom Lab). These guys make high quality microscope slides great for microscopy testing and imaging, and I’d recommend checking them out if you want slides for imaging";
- Memmolo P, Carcagnì P, Bianco V, Merola F, Goncalves da Silva Junior A, Garcia Goncalves LM, Ferraro P, Distante C. “Learning Diatoms Classification from a Dry Test Slide by Holographic Microscopy”. Sensors (Basel). 2020 Nov 7;20(21):6353. doi: 10.3390/s20216353. PMID: 33171757; PMCID: PMC7664373 (you can download the publication by this link as a PDF document): "Acknowledgments: Diatoms in the glass slide were prepared by Stefano Barone - Diatom Lab, and purchased from www.diatomshop.com" (a Diatom Lab microscope slide of 50 selected, micromanipulated Diatoms was used for this scientific publication. This slide was sold to the Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems (ISASI) National Research Council (CNR) of Italy (https://www.cnr.it/en).
Please
feel free to contact us with any questions regarding quotes for
customized products and services; we will do our best to respond to
your request as soon as possible.
Diatom
Lab is based in Italy (Europe). Customers are responsible for all
customs duties, taxes, and fees assessed upon delivery. We are not
liable for any such charges. We reserve the right to modify our
products without prior notice. As our preparations are handcrafted in
our laboratory, the items you receive may vary slightly from the
images shown.
Return
Policy: The buyer is responsible for all return shipping costs. A
refund will be issued only once the item is returned to the seller in
its original condition. Customers have 14 days from the date of
delivery to notify us of their intent to return an item, and an
additional 14 days to complete the return shipment.
“Few microscopic objects are more beautiful than an assemblage of the most remarkable forms of the Barbadian Polycystina, especially when seen brightly illuminated upon a black ground”. Carpenter W. (1857), The microscope and its revelations, London;
“It is doubtful whether there exists in the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom, any object which embraces in such small dimensions so much of the truly marvellous and beautiful as the tiny plants called diatoms. So great is the fascination which attends the examination of diatoms, that men have been influenced to put aside all other microscopic studies so that they might give them their unstinted and undivided attention. […] The men who make the microscopic study of diatoms their hobby are rudely termed ‘diatomaniacs.’ Yet there are few studies more fascinating, or that so well repay for any trouble expended upon their individual examination. [...] Although these tiny plants are so insignificant apparently, yet large volumes have been written about them, and the highest art has been brought to bear upon the illustrations which are used to make their study easy and attractive. But no illustration and no wordpainting can at all compare with a five minutes’ peep through a powerful microscope, when a group of diatoms is in view”. Kerr, R. (1895), Hidden beauties of nature, London;
"The revelations of the Microscope are perhaps not excelled in importance by those of telescope. While exciting our curiosity, our wonder and admiration, they have proved of infinite service in advancing our knowledge of things around us" Joseph Leidy;
“Rerum natura nusquam magis quam in minimis tota est” = “Nature is nowhere as great as in its smallest works” Pliny the Elder.
