Biological Microscopes Specifications

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	Grade:
	Your choices are...
	Student		Student microscopes are the smallest and least expensive type of microscope. They are capable of advanced techniques and documentation even though they are for student use. They are designed for bright field, dark field, and phase contrast.
	Benchtop		Benchtop microscopes are used in various industries such as textiles and animal husbandry.  Benchtop microscopes can perform many techniques, but can only perform a few techniques at one time.
	Research		Research microscopes are large, weighing in the range of 30Kg to 50 Kg. This mass is composed of complex optical, mechanical, and electronic systems. They may use multiple cameras, large specimens, and the widest range of simultaneous techniques. Many will have built-in computers to control the cameras and other functions including focus or image processing.
	Other		Other unlisted, specialized, or proprietary microscope grade.
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	Microscope Type:
	Your choices are...
	Acoustic / Ultrasonic		Acoustic and ultrasonic microscopes use sound waves to create images of the sample.  These types of microscopes can be used to examine delimitations, cracks and other anomalies nondestructively.
	Microwave		Microwave microscopes use electromagnetic radiation, which has a long wavelength (between 1 mm and 30 cm), to study specimens.
	Compound		Compound microscopes use a single light path. They can either have a single eyepiece (monocular) or a dual eyepiece (binocular). Compound microscopes have low depth perception but high resolution and magnification. They are used for viewing very small specimens such as cells, pond life samples, and other microscopic life forms.
	Fluorescent / UV		Fluorescent and UV microscopes use high-energy, short-wavelength light (usually ultraviolet) to excite electrons within certain molecules inside a specimen, causing those electrons to shift to higher orbits. When they fall back to their original energy levels, they emit lower-energy, longer-wavelength light (usually in the visible spectrum), which forms the image.
	Inverted		An inverted microscope has the illumination system above the stage and the lens system below the stage. Inverted microscopes are better for looking through thick specimens, such as dishes of cultured cells, because the lenses can get closer to the bottom of the dish, where the cells grow.  Inverted microscopes can also be used for flat polished metallurgical, ceramic, or optical samples.
	Laser / Confocal		A confocal microscope or laser microscope uses a laser to light image one plane of a specimen at a time.
	Polarizing		The polarized light microscope uses two polarizers, one on either side of the specimen, positioned perpendicular to each other so that only light that passes through the specimen reaches the eyepiece. Light is polarized in one plane as it passes through the first filter and reaches the specimen. Regularly spaced, patterned, or crystalline portions of the specimen rotate the light that passes through. Some of this rotated light passes through the second polarizing filter, so these regularly spaced areas show up bright against a black background.
	Portable Field		A portable field microscope is designed for use outside of a laboratory setting.  It may have a portable energy source, such as a battery, or it may use natural light for illumination.  These microscopes are generally lightweight and handheld.
	Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)		Scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) form images by using a detector synchronized with a focused electron beam to scan the object. The intensity of the image-forming beam is proportional to the back scattered or secondary emission of the specimen where the probe strikes it. The magnification is controlled by the length or area scanned.
	Scanning Probe / Atomic Force (SPM / AFM)		Scanning probe and atomic force (SPM / AFM) microscopes are used to study surface features by moving a sharp probe over the object's surface (e.g., the scanning tunneling microscope).  Atomic force microscopes enable the user to image the topography of a sample, and to monitor simultaneously ultrasonic surface vibrations in the MHz range. For detection of the distribution of the ultrasonic vibration amplitude, a part of the position-sensing light beam reflected from the cantilever is directed to an external knife-edge detector.
	Stereomicroscope		A stereomicroscope uses two different paths of light. This allows a specimen to be seen in 3-D. Stereomicroscopes have high depth perception but low resolution and magnification. These microscopes are great for dissecting as well as for viewing fossils and insect specimens. The best models have a built-in light source and zoom capabilities.
	Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)		Transmission electron microscopes (TEM) pass image-forming rays through the specimen being observed.  Contrast or diffracted beam images are used to analyze the sample.
	Other		Other unlisted, specialized, or proprietary microscope type.
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Performance Specifications

	Total Magnification:		A ratio of the size of an image to its corresponding object. This is usually determined by linear measurement.  This specification is meant to represent the entire magnification range of a microscope including both the eyepiece magnification and the objective magnification.
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	Resolution:		An optical device reveals the fineness of detail in an object. Objectively, resolution is specified as the minimum distance between two lines or points in the object that are perceived as separate by the human eye. Subjectively, the images of the two resolved points must fall on two receptors (rods or cones), which are separated by at least one other receptor on the retina of the eye.
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	Field of View:		The extent of the visible image field that can be seen when the microscope is in focus.
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Features and Options

	Eyepiece Style:
	Your choices are...
	Monocular		A microscope with one objective and one body tube for monocular vision.
	Binocular		A microscope fitted with double eyepieces for vision with both eyes. The purpose in dividing the same image from a single objective of the usual compound microscope is to reduce eyestrain and muscular fatigue, which may result from monocular, high-power microscopy.  These types of microscopes are also used for stereoscopic vision, which allows for depth perception of the sample.
	Dual Head		A dual head has one vertical eyepiece lens and a second eyepiece off the side at 45 degrees (So that two people can view the sample at one time, or one person and a camera).
	Trinocular		A microscope with a vertical tube at the top and regular binocular eyepieces at 30 degrees.  The vertical tube is often used for a digital camera or a second observer.
	Other		Other unlisted, specialized, or proprietary eyepiece style.
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	Digital Display?		A microscope that uses digital technology to display the magnified image.
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	Mechanical Stage?		Stages are often equipped with a mechanical device that holds the specimen slide in place and can smoothly translate the slide back and forth as well as from side to side. Other stages are designed to allow rotation of the specimen through 360 degrees or to provide anchors for auxiliary light sources, specimen manipulation tools, and other accessories.
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	Oil Immersion Lens?		A lens that requires a drop of special oil on the subject for use. The oil is put on the cover slip, and the objective is actually lowered into the oil. Oil immersion lenses are sealed to avoid damage by the oil.
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	Fine Focus?		The fine focus is used to make adjustments to the body tube, bringing the specimen into more fine focus.
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	Computer Interface?		The microscope can be controlled or monitored remotely with a computer via interface.
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	Image Analysis Processing Software?		The microscope has application software included for control or for analyzing images.
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