Stefan W. Hell receiving his Nobel Prize from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at the Stockholm Concert Hall, 10 December 2014.

© Nobel Media AB 2014. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

Stefan W. Hell after receiving his Nobel Prize at the Stockholm Concert Hall, 10 December 2014. Copyright © Nobel Media AB 2014
Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

Stefan W. Hell receiving his Nobel Prize from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. Copyright © Nobel Media AB 2014
Photo: Niklas Elmehed

Nobel Laureates at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony. From left: Physics Laureates Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura; Chemistry Laureates Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner; Medicine Laureates John O'Keefe and May-Britt Moser. Copyright © Nobel Media AB 2014
Photo: Niklas Elmehed

Stefan W. Hell receiving his Nobel Prize. Overview from Nobel Prize Award Ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall, 10 December 2014.

© Nobel Media AB 2014. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

Sweden's Princess Madeleine and Stefan W. Hell proceed into the Blue Hall of the Stockholm City Hall for the Nobel Banquet, 10 December 2014.

© Nobel Media AB 2014. Photo: Helena Paulin-Strömberg

Sweden's Princess Madeleine and Stefan W. Hell at the table of honour at the Nobel Banquet. Copyright © Nobel Media AB 2014
Photo: Niklas Elmehed

Stefan W. Hell delivering his banquet speech after the dinner. Copyright © Nobel Media AB 2014
Photo: Niklas Elmehed

Stefan W. Hell delivering his banquet speech.

© Nobel Media AB 2014. Photo: Helena Paulin-Strömberg

Ten of the thirteen Nobel Laureates of 2014 assembled at the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm on 12 December 2014. From left: Edvard I. Moser, May-Britt Moser, Shuji Nakamura, Stefan W. Hell, Patrick Modiano, Hiroshi Amano, Kailash Satyarthi, Jean Tirole, Eric Betzig and William E. Moerner. Copyright © Nobel Media AB 2014
Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

Stefan W. Hell with a poster about the 2014 Chemistry Prize at the Nobel Foundation reception at the Nordic Museum in Stockholm, 9 December 2014. Copyright © Nobel Media AB 2014
Photo: Alex Ljungdahl

Stefan W. Hell delivering his Nobel Lecture.

Copyright © The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2014 Photo: Sara Gustavsson

All three Chemistry Laureates assembled at stage after the Nobel Lectures in the Aula Magna, Stockholm University, on 8 December 2014. From left: Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner.

Copyright © Nobel Media 2014

Press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 7 December 2014. From left: Laureate in Economic Sciences Jean Tirole, Nobel Laureates in Chemistry Eric Betzig, William E. Moerner, Stefan W. Hell, Nobel Laureates in Physics Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura.

Copyright © The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2014 Photo: Markus Marcetic

All three Chemistry Laureates assembled at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 7 December 2014. From left: Stefan W. Hell, William E. Moerner and Eric Betzig.

Copyright © The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2014 Photo: Markus Marcetic

All three Chemistry Laureates signing posters at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 7 December 2014.

Copyright © Nobel Media 2014

Like many Nobel Laureates before him, Stefan W. Hell autographs a chair at Bistro Nobel at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, 6 December 2014.

Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT

All three Nobel Laureates in Chemistry, from left: Stefan W. Hell, Eric Betzig and William E. Moerner, with their autographed chair in Bistro Nobel at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, 6 December 2014.

Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT

Stefan W. Hell presenting his gift to the Nobel Museum's collection: the book "The Quantum Theory of Light", during the 2014 Nobel Laureates' Get together on 6 December 2014. Copyright © Nobel Media AB 2014
Photo: Niklas Elmehed

Stefan W. Hell before the interview with Nobelprize.org at the Nobel Museum on 6 December 2014.

Copyright © Nobel Media 2014

All three Nobel Laureates in Chemistry assembled at the Nobel Museum. From left: Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner. Copyright © Nobel Media AB 2014
Photo: Niklas Elmehed

Stefan W. Hell arriving at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm. Copyright © Nobel Media AB 2014
Photo: Niklas Elmehed

Stefan W. Hell arriving at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, for the 2014 Nobel Laureates' Get together on 6 December 2014. Copyright © Nobel Media AB 2014
Photo: Niklas Elmehed

Portrait of Stefan Hell.

Photo: DKFZ Heidelberg

Stefan Hell at a press cenference after the announcement of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on 8 October 2014.

Photo © Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry

Stefan Hell in the laboratory.

Photo © Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry

Stefan Hell in the laboratory.

Photo © Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry

Two-color STED image of a glioblastoma, the most frequent malignant brain tumor in adults. Clathrin protein is green; !-tubulin protein is stained red. In contrast to the blurred classical image (left), the STED image (right) shows considerably finer structures.

© J. Bückers, D. Wildanger, L. Kastrup, R. Medda

The STED microscopy (circular inset image) provides approximately ten times sharper details of filament structures within a nerve cell compared to a conventional light microscope (outer image).

© G. Donnert, S. W. Hell