dark-fieldadj.
/ˈdɑːkfiːld/, U.S. /ˈdɑrkˌfild/ Physics.
Designating techniques used in light microscopy, electron microscopy, radiography, etc., in which the objective lens or detector receives only scattered radiation from the sample and direct radiation is blocked; of or relating to such techniques. Esp. in dark-field illumination, dark-field microscopy, etc. Cf. dark-ground adj., bright-field adj. at bright adj. and n. Compounds 2.In visible light microscopy the specimen appears bright against a dark background.
ΚΠ
1853 Proc. Royal Irish Acad. 1850–3 5 316 The object was shown luminous on the dark field of the instrument.]
1865 R. Beck Treat. Achromatic Microscopes 34 In every kind of ‘dark-field illumination’ the light comes upon the object from below, but at such an oblique angle as never to enter the object-glass direct.
1966 D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. 16 Features that can be observed by dark field illumination are always faintly visible by direct illumination... The same is not true of transparent biological specimens.
1980 Proc. Symp. Laser Induced Damage Optical Materials 1979 (U.S. Dept. Commerce) 232 The resulting surface is essentially featureless, as seen in dark-field microscopy.
2015 E. Jabbari in H. Baharvand & N. Aghdami Stem-Cell Nanoengineering ix. 147 Dark-field imaging can be used to monitor cell differentiation.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021).
<
adj.1865