Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures
Published on: May 20, 2014
Confocal imaging of a stratified medium
Abstract:
The confocal imaging of stratified media (for example, thin-film structures) is investigated. A simple model is introduced for the imaging of a single layer in order to explore the axial resolution attainable. A rigorous model is also described and compared with experimental results from thin surface films. A theoretical treatment of imaging of stratified media with a continuously varying refractive index is presented, and the inverse problem of reconstructing the refractive-index profile from a confocal image is discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy
Three-Dimensional Microscopy in Microbiology
Phase Contrast and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy
In-phase-contrast microscopes, interference between light directly passing through a cell and light refracted by cellular components is used to create high-contrast, high-resolution images without staining. It is the oldest and simplest type of microscope that creates an image by altering the wavelengths of light rays passing through the specimen. Altered wavelength paths are created using an annular stop in the condenser. The annular stop produces a hollow cone of...

