Editing Optical microscope (section)

===Other microscope variants===
There are many variants of the compound optical microscope design for specialized purposes. Some of these are physical design differences allowing specialization for certain purposes:{{cn|date=December 2024}}
* [[Stereo microscope]], a low-powered microscope which provides a stereoscopic view of the sample, commonly used for dissection.
* [[Comparison microscope]] has two separate light paths allowing direct comparison of two samples via one image in each eye.
* [[Inverted microscope]], for studying samples from below; useful for cell cultures in liquid or for metallography.
* Fiber optic connector inspection microscope, designed for connector end-face inspection
* [[Traveling microscope]], for studying samples of high [[optical resolution]].

Other microscope variants are designed for different illumination techniques:
* [[Petrographic microscope]], whose design usually includes a polarizing filter, rotating stage, and gypsum plate to facilitate the study of minerals or other crystalline materials whose optical properties can vary with orientation.
* [[Polarizing microscope]], similar to the petrographic microscope.
* [[Phase-contrast microscope]], which applies the phase contrast illumination method.
* [[Epifluorescence microscope]], designed for analysis of samples that include fluorophores.
* [[Confocal microscope]], a widely used variant of epifluorescent illumination that uses a scanning laser to illuminate a sample for fluorescence.
* [[Two-photon excitation microscopy|Two-photon microscope]], used to image fluorescence deeper in scattering media and reduce photobleaching, especially in living samples.
* Student microscope – an often low-power microscope with simplified controls and sometimes low-quality optics designed for school use or as a starter instrument for children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.well.ox.ac.uk/_asset/file/buying-a-cheap-microscope-for-home.pdf|title=Buying a cheap microscope for home use|access-date=5 November 2015|publisher=Oxford University.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305042314/http://www.well.ox.ac.uk/_asset/file/buying-a-cheap-microscope-for-home.pdf|archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref>
* [[Ultramicroscope]], an adapted light microscope that uses [[light scattering]] to allow viewing of tiny particles whose diameter is below or near the wavelength of visible light (around 500 nanometers); mostly obsolete since the advent of [[electron microscope]]s
* [[Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy|Tip-enhanced Raman microscope]], is a variant of optical microscope based on [[tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy]], without traditional wavelength-based resolution limits.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kumar|first1=Naresh|last2=Weckhuysen|first2=Bert M.|last3=Wain|first3=Andrew J.|last4=Pollard|first4=Andrew J.|date=April 2019|title=Nanoscale chemical imaging using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy|journal=Nature Protocols|volume=14|issue=4|pages=1169–1193|doi=10.1038/s41596-019-0132-z|pmid=30911174|issn=1750-2799|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lee|first1=Joonhee|last2=Crampton|first2=Kevin T.|last3=Tallarida|first3=Nicholas|last4=Apkarian|first4=V. Ara|date=April 2019|title=Visualizing vibrational normal modes of a single molecule with atomically confined light|journal=Nature|volume=568|issue=7750|pages=78–82|doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1059-9|pmid=30944493|bibcode=2019Natur.568...78L |s2cid=92998248 |issn=1476-4687}}</ref> This microscope primarily realized on the [[Scanning probe microscopy|scanning-probe microscope]] platforms using all optical tools.