Types of Microscopes and their uses

Today there is a wide variety of microscopes, each made and designed specifically for medical and industrial use. There is no doubt that since the appearance of the first microscope science and consequently technology have not ceased to be perfected. Types of Microscopes and their uses

Main types of Microscopes : Types of Microscopes and their uses

But with progress it also reaches diversity, so here we present the main types of microscopes currently used by different scientific and industrial entities.

1. Optical microscope

The light microscope was the first optical instrument that emerged to observe magnified images. This type of microscope is one of the most widespread in the world thanks to the fact that it is used in fields as diverse as medicine and the food industry. The first prototypes of microscopes are attributed to Anton van Leeuwenhoek and Robert Hooke.

As its name implies, the optical microscope uses a beam of visible light, which passes through the object and projects its image through a set of special lenses. In this way the human eye was for the first time able to perceive previously invisible cellular structures.

2. Transmission electron microscope

A vitally important invention in the mid-twentieth century was a breakthrough, as this microscope allows a greater number of objects to be viewed. Having a higher than optical range.

It uses electrons instead of light, these electrons pass through a superfine sample (finer than those of the optical microscope) and then project the image on a photographic plate, for this reason even viruses (extremely small samples) can be visualized.

3. Scanning electron microscope

It works the same as the previous one, except for the fact that the electrons do not impact the sample simultaneously, but rather they walk through specific points of the sample, simulating a “scanner” effect, which allows obtaining an image in high resolution.

4. Fluorescence Microscope

This makes use of the fluorescent properties of the studied material, uses a xenon or mercury vapor lamp to achieve visualization. Light itself is not used, instead it “makes” the sample emit its own light.

5. Field ion microscope

One of the most used in material sciences, it allows observing the order of the atoms that make up a sample. A classic example of its operation is the implementation of the absorbed gases in a metal tip. So these allow a reconstruction of the atomic structure of the material in question.

6. Atomic force microscope

This type of microscope, as its name implies, works on the basis of atomic force, where the bonds of the atoms in the sample come into contact with the atoms of the microscope probe.

Atomic force microscopes allow a three-dimensional scan of the sample, as if it were a computerized topography. This is a fairly advanced method and is similar to the ion microscope.

7. Digital microscope  Types of Microscopes and their uses

With an operation similar to the optical microscope, instead of projecting an image in real time, it “captures” it, or takes a photo with a special camera with which it is equipped.

These, due to their limited capacity, are mostly required for the use and study of everyday objects, but not scientific ones.

8. Dark field microscope

These microscopes are quite particular, since they project the image thanks to a mechanism where the sample is illuminated obliquely. So the rays do not come directly from the light source, thus being scattered over the sample.

9. Phase contrast microscope

This is perfected under physical principles, achieving that the light travels at different speeds during the visualization of the sample. In this way, thanks to this flexible light beam, a much clearer image of the object of study can be obtained.

10. Stereomicroscope

They are models that are derived from traditional optical microscopes, only in this case they manage to project a three-dimensional image of the sample. Being equipped with two eyepieces, which from different angles form a three-dimensional image.

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