Tunable Single-Pair Hollow-Beam-Converter Dark-Field Microscopy

Abstract

A tunable single-pair hollow-beam-converter (TSHBC) dark-field microscopy is proposed and fabricated. The TSHBC is composed of one pair of parallel reflective mirrors of complementary cone shape. By simply adjusting the longitudinal separation between the two mirrors of TSHBC, a dark-field image with more high contrast and high energy efficiency can be obtained for a given objective lens. Furthermore, the selection criteria of the condenser lens and objective lens are provided for the structure of an optimal dark-field microscopy with TSHBC. (C) 2013 The Japan Society of Applied Physics