Article
Article
Optical microscope
Article By:
Herzberger, Max J. Formerly, Department of Physics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Richards, Oscar W. College of Optometry, Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon.
Harris, Lawrence A. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Pohl, D. W. IBM Research Division, Zurich Research Laboratory, Ruschlikon, Switzerland.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.472600
An instrument used to obtain an enlarged image of a small object. In general, a compound microscope consists of a light source, a condenser, an objective, and an ocular or eyepiece, which can be replaced by a recording device such as a photoelectric tube or a photographic plate. The optical microscope is limited by the wavelengths of the light used and by the materials available for manufacturing the lenses.
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