Optical Microscopy / Light Microscopy Technology

The optical microscope, also referred to as a light microscope, is a type of microscope that commonly uses visible light and a system of lenses to generate magnified images of small objects. There are two basic types of optical microscopes: simple microscopes and compound microscopes. A simple microscope uses a lens or set of lenses to enlarge an object through angular magnification alone, giving the viewer an erect enlarged virtual image. A compound microscope uses an objective lens to collect light, which focuses a real image of the object inside the microscope. That image is then magnified by the eyepiece that gives the viewer an enlarged inverted virtual image of the object. Optical microscopy is used extensively in microelectronics, nanophysics, biotechnology, pharmaceutic research, mineralogy and microbiology.