Abstract

The adjustments of a variable phase microscope control two variable experimental parameters, specifically the phase difference δ between and the amplitude transmission ratio h of the conjugate and complementary areas of the diffraction plate or its polanret equivalent. It is shown that the center of the sharply focused diffraction image of a single unresolved particle can be brought to zero intensity by a definite choice of the parameters h and δ. The relations which exist among the required choice of h, δ, the area and the optical properties of the particle are derived and specialized to various classes of particles. These relations permit the computation of the area and one or more optical properties of the particle from the observed values of the parameters h, δ. Observations made upon opaque particles with a modified polanret microscope are described and found to be in accord with the theory. The radii of these particles ranged from 0.5 to 0.15 times the Airy limit of the test objective.

© 1950 Optical Society of America

Effect of Particle Size on the Diffraction Image in Microscopy with Narrow-Coned, Axial Illumination

Harold Osterberg and Gilbert E. Pride
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 40(1) 14-22 (1950)

Microscope Imagery and Interpretations*

Harold Osterberg
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 40(5) 295-303 (1950)

The Resolution of Two Particles in a Bright Field by Coated Microscope Objectives

Harold Osterberg and Franklyn C. Wissler
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 39(7) 558-566 (1949)

Color Phase-Contrast Microscopy: Requirements and Applications*

Charles Proffer Saylor, Arthur T. Brice, and F. Zernike
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 40(5) 329-334 (1950)

High Precision Measurements with Simple Equipment*

A. C. S. van Heel
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 40(12) 809-816 (1950)