Multimode Trans-Illuminator for the Stereomicroscope

Extract

The stereomicroscope was the main tool I once used for metallurgical failure analysis. I have owned a Meiji EMT Greenough-type stereomicroscope since the late 1980's. I had not used transmitted light with the stereomicroscope until about a year ago when I completed a multimode transmitted light illuminator for my Meiji stereomicroscope. I thought this capability would be very useful for introducing the grandkids to the microscopic world, especially with live lake water organisms. My earlier article in Microscopy Today, “Rediscovery of Darkfield Dispersion Staining while Building a Universal Student Microscope,” January/February 2003, demonstrated usefulness of a dual brightfield and darkfield capability in transmitted light for viewing living organisms. I have a ½″ fiber-optic bundle light guide used in the illumination system for my modified Biolam microscope also shown in Microscopy Today, “Effects of Condenser Spherical Aberration on Image Quality,” March 2005.