Skip to main content
Microscopy

Microscopy

Optical microscopy – how small can it go?

22 Oct 2020 Anna Demming
Taken from the October 2020 issue of Physics World.

For centuries diffraction limited the resolution of optical microscopy. The past 50 years have, however, seen one limitation after another buckle under the ingenuity of a host of wide-ranging techniques, from lenses to tips, chips and doughnuts. Anna Demming reports

Flea drawing
(Courtesy: Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division / Science Photo Library)
“Adorn’d with a curiously polish’d suit of sable [black] Armour” and “multitudes of sharp

You’ve reached the limit of what you can view on Physics World without registering

If you already have an account on Physics World, then please sign in to continue reading

If you do not yet have an account, please register so you can

  • Access more than 20 years of online content
  • Choose which e-mail newsletters you would like to receive
Copyright © 2024 by IOP Publishing Ltd and individual contributors