Wikipedia
The optical microscope, often referred to as light microscope, is a type of microscope which uses visible light and a system of lenses to magnify images of small samples. Optical microscopes are the oldest design of microscope and were possibly invented in their present compound form in the 17th century. Basic optical microscopes can be very simple, although there are many complex designs which aim to improve resolution and sample contrast.
The image from an optical microscope can be captured by normal light-sensitive cameras to generate a micrograph. Originally images were captured by photographic film but modern developments in CMOS and charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras allow the capture of digital images. Purely digital microscopes are now available which use a CCD camera to examine a sample, showing the resulting image directly on a computer screen without the need for eyepieces.
Alternatives to optical microscopy which do not use visible light include scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.
On 8 October 2014, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Eric Betzig, William Moerner and Stefan Hell for "the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy," which brings " optical microscopy into the nanodimension".
Usage examples of "optical microscope".
There was a little optical microscope you could use to watch the ion beam cutting its little crater into the surface of the sample, like a kid with a magnifying glass scorching his initials on the barn door.
She turned on a stereo-optical microscope, positioned the sample on the stage, and adjusted the light wand to take a look at a lower magnification before she resorted to the SEM.
The topography was simply an enlarged version of what we had seen under the optical microscope moments earlier, and since the picture wasn't terribly bright, this suggested an element with a lower atomic number.
Ilona was half slumped over the optical microscope, its intense light the only illumination in the lab module.
After that he used the optical microscope, and saw to it that a short circuit of 4,000 volts went through the transmitter.
After that he used the optical microscope, and saw to it that a short circuit 6f 4,000 volts went through the transmitter.
A simpler way might be this (though I am not sure it would work): We take light and, through an optical microscope running backwards, we focus it onto a very small photoelectric screen.
Slowly he drew out the last ovum from the nutrient fluid in which he kept it, placing it on a slide and under the optical microscope.
Stanley worked with the old and the new mingled around him: his computer workstation stood on a scratched wooden table he had had for thirty years, and on a side table was an optical microscope from the sixties that he still liked to use from time to time.
The individual capsules couldn't be seen with the naked eye, and only barely with an optical microscope.
The air smelled of ethanol and other chemicals, arrayed on a table beside an optical microscope.