The images below compare performance of the Intel Play QX3 Computer Microscope with and without the aid of an organized cone of illumination from a darkfield Abbe substage condenser containing an aperture diaphragm. These photomicrographs are unretouched and were captured with the QX3 interactive software.

Photomicrographs were captured using a thin section made from a dinosaur (unknown species) fossil from the Cretaceous period that was recovered in Argentina. The Cretaceous period began 144 million years ago and ended about 65 million years ago, at the beginning of the period marking the start of dinosaur extinction. This was the last period of the Mesozoic Era, and the general dinosaur population increased during much of this period.

Semi-transparent mineral, bone, and rock thin sections are difficult to image using unaided brightfield optical microscopy. The images above were recorded using the Intel Play QX3 microscope in transmitted darkfield illumination mode. On the top is a digital image from a stock QX3 microscope using auxiliary illumination provided by a fiber optic light pipe through a hole drilled into the mixing chamber. The image on the bottom was recorded using the QX3 microscope body and a Nikon achromatic substage condenser of low numerical aperture.

BACK TO TRANSMITTED DARKFIELD GALLERY

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