Skip to content

Conoscopy

Definition

Observation of angular optical behaviour in an appropriate aperture-plane image. Suitable preparation and microscope configuration are necessary for interpretation. It is different from an ordinary specimen image. An incomplete or poorly oriented observation should not be forced into a definitive optical diagnosis.

Context
Polarised-light microscopy

For example, an interference observation must be taken in the appropriate optical plane; an ordinary magnified specimen view does not supply the same information.

Related terms

Birefringence
The difference between the highest and lowest refractive indices of an anisotropic mineral, seen as a characteristic interference colour between crossed polars....
DAPI
DAPI is a fluorescent DNA-binding stain used to visualise DNA-containing structures under suitable excitation and detection conditions. A stained structure can support...
Retardation
In polarised-light optics, retardation is the optical path difference accumulated between components travelling with different phase velocities through a specimen. Its interpretation...

Explained in