A condenser should provide uniform illumination of the object. It should be avoided, for example, to image the filament of an illumination lamp (typically a tungsten halogen lamp) onto the specimen, resulting into a severe modulation of illumination intensity. The common method of Köhler illumination avoids that problem by creating illumination con. Additional items are required for modified microscopy techniques. For example, a dark field stop is required for dark field microscopy, and phase rings are applied for phase contrast microscopy. Such optical elements may be inserted in a slot between the illuminator and the condenser.For illumination systems with high power, there may be substantial heating effects in the condenser, which can exclude the use of plastic opticsand even of cemented optics.Modern illumination systems increasingly make use of light emitting diodes (white LEDs), which produce far less heat than halogen lamps. Besides, their small dimensions also create opportunities for substantial simplification of the illumination optics (leading to entirely different condenser designs) and for various variations of illumination type.
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