Types of Microscopes

By Peter Emerson

Microscopes range from the simple single lens microscope to the sophisticated ones with imaging systems. Microscopes differ on the basis of their resolution, magnification, illumination method, type of image, field of view, degree of automation etc.

Depending on the radiation source, microscopes can be broadly classified as light, electron and confocal. Light microscopes utilize visible light as the radiation source. Light microscopes can be again classified into stereo microscopes and compound microscopes. Stereo microscopes are commonly known as dissection microscopes, which can provide a 3-dimensional view of the object. Compound microscopes provide a 2- dimensional view of the objects that can be used for laboratory purposes. Phase contrast microscopes and dark field microscopes modify the principles of light microscopy to enhance visual quality of the specimen. Oil immersion microscopes use oil between the lens and specimen to increase the magnification.

Electron microscopes are sophisticated types, which use a stream of electrons as the radiation source instead of light. These can ensure higher levels of magnification and are used effectively in the fields of geology, medicine and archaeology. Transmission electron microscope is used to magnify the internal details of a specimen using an electron beam. The 3 dimensional image of the specimen's surface can be analyzed using scanning electron microscope. Scanning transmission electron microscope is a modification of TEM, which scans the object at a faster rate. Confocal microscopes are highly automated, and utilize laser as the radiation source. Fluorescence microscopes excite the dyed specimen with particular radiation to provide a brighter image.

Scanning probe microscopes are a group of microscopes, which form images by scanning the specimen using a physical probe. Scanning probe microscopes mainly include scanning tunneling microscopes, atomic force microscopes, near-field scanning optical microscopes etc. These have great applications in nanotechnology. Microscopes based on magnetic force, microwave, acoustics etc are also available. The inference microscope is used with perfectly transparent objects that are invisible under an ordinary microscope.

In day-to-day use, microscopes are classified on the basis of the number of their lenses, i.e., monocular, binocular and trilocular.

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