Resolution in Microscopy
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Kline Geology Laboratory Room 327, P.O. Box 208109, New Haven, CT 06520-8109  203-432-3181

Please contact Jim Eckert with any comments or suggestions, including additional links.

Resolution in Microscopy

Resolution is the finest detail that can be distinguished in an image. The resolving power of a microscope is quite different from its magnification. You can enlarge a photograph indefinitely using more powerful lenses, but the image will blur together and be unreadable. Therefore, increasing the magnification will not improve resolution. The minimum separation (d) that can be resolved by any kind of a microscope is given by the following formula: d = [lambda]/(2n sin[theta] )
where n is the refractive index (which is 1 in the vacuum of an electron microscope) and lambda is the wavelength. Since resolution and d are inversely proportional, this formula suggests that they way to improve resolution is to use shorter wavelengths and media with larger indices of refraction. The electron microscope exploits these principles by using extremely short wavelengths of accelerated electrons to form high-resolution images.

Contact:

comments or questions.

JAMES O. ECKERT, JR., Ph.D.
Microprobe Laboratory Manager, KGL 327
Phone: 203-432-3181 FAX: 203-432-3134

email: Jim Eckert