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A lens with a larger numerical aperture will be able to visualize finer details than a lens with a smaller numerical aperture. Assuming quality ( diffraction-limited ) optics, lenses with larger numerical apertures collect more light and will generally provide a brighter image, but will provide shallower depth of field .
From this it is clear that a good resolution (small δ) is connected with a high numerical aperture. The numerical aperture of a lens is defined as = where α 0 is half the angle spanned by the objective lens seen from the sample, and n is the refractive index of the medium between the lens and specimen (≈1 for air). State-of-the-art ...
Memorial in Jena, Germany to Ernst Karl Abbe, who approximated the diffraction limit of a microscope as = , where d is the resolvable feature size, λ is the wavelength of light, n is the index of refraction of the medium being imaged in, and θ (depicted as α in the inscription) is the half-angle subtended by the optical objective lens (representing the numerical aperture).
Here, λ 0 is the wavelength in vacuum; NA is the numerical aperture for the optical component (maximum 1.3–1.4 for modern objectives with a very high magnification factor). Thus, the resolution limit is usually around λ 0 /2 for conventional optical microscopy.
It is NA that determines optical resolution, in combination with the NA of the objective. Different condensers vary in their maximum and minimum numerical aperture, and the numerical aperture of a single condenser varies depending on the diameter setting of the condenser aperture. In order for the maximum numerical aperture (and therefore ...
A fixed collimator produces an image of the entrance aperture in which either a mirror (for imaging) or a grating can be positioned. Three camera optics with numerical apertures of 1.8, 3.75 and 30 provide image scales of 0.25, 0.12, and 0.015 arcsec/detector element for wide field, seeing-limited and diffraction-limited observations.
In optical microscopes a darkfield condenser lens must be used, which directs a cone of light away from the objective lens. To maximize the scattered light-gathering power of the objective lens, oil immersion is used and the numerical aperture (NA) of the objective lens must be less than 1.0. Objective lenses with a higher NA can be used but ...
Optical units are dimensionless units of length used in optical microscopy. They are used to express distances in terms of the numerical aperture of the system and the wavelength of the light used for observation. Using these units allows comparison of the properties of different microscopes. [1]