In 1873, the German physicist Ernst Abbe realized that the resolution of optical imaging instruments, including telescopes and microscopes, is fundamentally limited by the diffraction of light.

The waves always 'spread' to some extent into the area beyond the gap. This is diffraction - the spreading out of waves when they go through a gap, or past the edge of a barrier. The extent of the ...

What is the Diffraction Limit? The diffraction limit is a fundamental barrier in optical microscopy that sets the minimum size of features that can be resolved using conventional light microscopes. It ...