Numerical aperture and spatial resolution

Posted by F Javier Diez Guerra on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/Numerical-aperture-and-spatial-resolution-tp7591293.html

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Hello,

I wonder if anybody in the list could help.

I want to convey to biology undergraduate students (very allergic to
physics and mathematics) the understanding of the relationship between
numerical aperture and spatial resolution.

I have already given them links to the different microscopy primer
sites. They find difficult to understand why the airy disk is generated
in the image plane, how the diffraction orders affect resolution and why
increasing NA reduces the image spot.

Could anybody share a basic and intuitive infographic slide, animation
or any other resource that could help to ease comprehension in this context?

Thanks

Javier


--
Fco. Javier Diez-Guerra, PhD

Servicio de Microscopía Confocal
Centro de Biologia Molecular Severo Ochoa
C/ Nicolás Cabrera, 1
Campus de Cantoblanco
28049 Madrid
SPAIN

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