The Different Options For Lighting Your Microscope

The earliest known microscopes were primitive yet functional

. They usually consisted of a tube with the lenses mounted within, and adjustment knob to raise or lower the objective over the specimen for focusing, and a mirror under the simple stage to illuminate the specimen with sunlight or candle. This limited the user to working with either sunlight, which moved across the room, or candle or oil lamplight, which flickered, thus making the observation of the specimen increasingly frustrating.

Early microscopy enthusiasts such as Anton van Leeuwenhoek relied mostly upon candlelight to illuminate the objects they were observing. The advances these early microscope users made were unprecedented, considering what they had to work with.

Microscope illumination has advanced greatly over the past fifty years. The first advance was electrical illumination. This was the gold standard for illuminating the specimen during microscopy. A small light bulb was mounted on a swiveling base, so the user could aim the beam of light either directly into the observable subject, or to the side for less light. This system became the staple of compound microscopes.

The next revolutionary design was the polarizing stage light. It used a much brighter krypton filament bulb and a special polarizing lens that brought the subject into a more bright relief, thus revealing structures not seen with more simple illumination. This type of microscope illumination is still used today, mostly by petrologists and geologists.

Stage lighting using a condenser was the next form of microscope illumination. A condenser has an iris that can manipulate the light to different levels of light so those faint objects were brought out to the viewer. This is extremely useful for medical and forensic scientists, as some tissues are so delicate that strong lighting is not necessary.

There are now baffled light fixtures on microscopes, which can soften the light for easier eye relief. Looking into a microscope day after day, hour after hour can be very taxing on your eyes. Having a softer microscope illumination is a boon for professional microscopy personnel.

Halogen is another light source. This extremely bright microscope illumination is necessary for this specimens or very dark substrates. Thick blood specimens or dark tissues can be illuminated very efficiently using this method.

Fluorescent microscopy uses a special lighting and dye to bring out organisms or structure that would otherwise be naked to the eye. This form of microscope illumination is a cool white light that is easy on the observer.

Tungsten is also used for microscope illumination. This would be the cheapest form of microscopic illumination. It is a very bright light, yet is also very hot. If you are viewing living specimens, you most likely will kill them if using this form. A cooler light is needed for liquid or living specimens. Although this is a common illumination method, most microscopes allow for the changing of the light source.

The newest form of illumination would be the LED, or "light emitting diode". This is a very good illumination for microscopes and is relatively cheap. The LED bulbs last a very long time, and use less power for the same illumination of standard bulbs.

You need to assess what type of microscopic observation you are to conduct to realize the form of microscopic illumination you need. Choosing the right form and method is essential for successful observation.

by: Andrew Long

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