Resolution

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 1.Resolution
• Theoretical resolution
- 討論顯微鏡(microscopy)本身的儀器設計
在理論上的解析程度
• Spatial resolution
-討論試片(specimen)與電子束(electron
beam)交互作用下的解析程度

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 2.Resolving power(鑑別率)
1) The ability of a lens enables the observer to see fine details in a specimen.
That is, the features on the specimen larger than the beam diameter should
be “resolved”.
2) Abbe’s equation

where d = resolution
λ = wavelength of imaging radiation
n = index of refraction of medium between point source
and lens, relative to free space
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3) Rayleigh Criterion
The resolving power of a lens is ultimately limited by diffraction. The
lens’ aperture is analogous to a two-dimensional version of the single-slit
experiment.

Light passing through the lens interferes with itself creating a ring-
shaped diffraction pattern, known as the Airy pattern, if the phase of the
transmitted light is taken to be spherical over the exit aperture.
 An empirical diffraction limit is given by the Rayleigh criterion
invented by Lord Rayleigh:

Where :
θ is the angular resolution, λ is the wavelength of light, and D is the
diameter of the lens’ aperture.

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 Fig. (a) The formation of two
Airy disc images of point
sources S1, S2 through
diffraction at the objective
aperture (angle β). (b) Clearly
resolved Airy discs, (c) just
resolved, (d) unresolved, (e) the
situation corresponding to (c),
which is Rayleigh criterion
such that the intensity in the
center is 0.81 of the maximum.

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• For an ideal lens of focal length f, the
Rayleigh criterion yields a minimum spatial
resolution, :

• This is the size of smallest object that the

lens can resolve, and also the radius of the
smallest spot that a collimated beam of light
can be focused to.

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 Fig. (a) Intensity distribution
in image of point object
formed by perfect lens.
(b) Overlapping patterns of
two point images sufficiently
far apart to be recognized
clearly as separate points.
(c) ‘Rayleigh Criterion’: two
points are just ‘resolved’ when
the separation of the peaks
equals the radius of the Airy
disc.
(d) Image point are not
resolved when the separation
of peak intensities is less than
the radius of the Airy disc.

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3.Electron beam and specimen interaction

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