Photonics Dictionary

An Abbe condenser is a type of optical component used in microscopy to enhance the illumination of the specimen. Named after the German physicist Ernst Abbe, who developed it in the 19th century, the...

The second adjustable iris diaphragm in an optical system. In the common microscope condenser system, it usually is located beneath the substage condenser on a transmitted light microscope. When the...

An oil immersion condenser used to permit only light that has been diffracted or dispersed by a microscope specimen to enter the microscope. It is used in dark-field microscopy.

A means of illumination from which the infrared component has been removed by absorption or reflection filters within the condenser system.

A single positive lens or group of lenses used in a projection system to collect light from a source and cause it to illuminate evenly the object to be projected.

A condenser that forms a hollow cone-shaped beam of light with its focal point in the plane of the specimen. If it is used with an objective having a numerical aperture lower than the minimum...

The transmission of light by a condenser to observe either very small particles or very fine lines with a microscope.

A device used to create a light output that exceeds light input, the energy being provided by an electric field. It consists of a photoconductive layer with an electroluminescent layer between plates...

A small xenon-filled tube with metal electrodes fused into the ends. The gas flashes brilliantly when a condenser is discharged through the tube. The duration of the flash is primarily dependent upon...

A two-stage illuminating system for a microscope in which the source is imaged in the aperture of the substage condenser by an auxiliary condenser, and the substage condenser in turn forms an image...

An instrument consisting essentially of a tube 160 mm long, with an objective lens at the distant end and an eyepiece at the near end. The objective forms a real aerial image of the object in the...

With respect to microscopy, also called dispersive staining, optical staining the projection of colors through areas of a colorless specimen by color filters that are constructed to fit over the...

A condenser composed of a paraboloidal reflector and used for dark-field illumination.

Phase contrast microscopy is an optical microscopy technique that enhances the contrast of transparent and colorless specimens, making it possible to visualize fine details and internal structures...

A microscope that has an annular stop in the lower focal plane of the condenser, and a quarter-wave retarding and absorbing ring in the upper focal plane of the objective that just fills the image of...

A form of lens assembly used in a projection system to maximize efficiency and assure uniform illumination of the object being projected.

A device used to measure the opening time of a shutter. The most common devices depend on the charging or discharging of an electrical condenser, or on the production of a curve of open area against...

A device that produces brief flashes of light for observing the behavior of an object during a short interval. One of the most effective means for accomplishing this is a gaseous tube energized by...

In a microscope, the optical assembly that focuses light on the specimen and into the objective.

An Abbe condenser in which the upper lens element is fixed. The lower lens may focus the illumination between the elements so that it emerges from the fixed lens as a large-diameter parallel bundle....

With respect to microscopy, light that is directed through the specimen by a substage condenser.