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Frits Zernike developed phase-contrast microscopy, making transparent structures visible through changes in wave phase. A weakly absorbing specimen may change the wave phase of transmitted light without producing much ordinary intensity contrast. Shifting the relative wave phase of the direct and diffracted components lets their wave interference convert that information into visible brightness differences. His discovery began with imperfections in diffraction gratings, before becoming a method for observing transparent specimens.^[ref]

A physicist.^[ref]

Awarded to Frits Zernike for the phase-contrast microscopy method, particularly the phase-contrast microscope.^[ref]

Phase-contrast microscopy converts specimen-dependent phase differences into visible light intensity differences. It can reveal structures in living, unstained biological cells, allowing their changes to be followed without first making an absorbing preparation.^[ref] The key question is how an optical microscope can read a phase when an ordinary detector records light intensity.

Consider a transparent specimen with complex amplitude transmission $t(x,y)=e^{i\varphi (x,y)}$. In ideal in-focus coherent imaging with all relevant spatial frequencies transmitted, its image has $I=|t{|}^2=1$: varying $\varphi$ alone produces no brightness detail. This is a particular model, not a claim that all transparent specimens are invisible. Diffraction, defocus, absorption and a finite optical pupil can already change a real image.

A phase-contrast microscope images an illuminating annulus onto a phase plate ring near the objective's rear focal plane. The aligned ring attenuates and shifts direct light relative to most diffracted light; their interference changes image brightness.^[ref]

The method is beautiful because the bright direct beam becomes its own reference: a small specimen-dependent complex amplitude can interfere with it and change the image at first order. Merely magnifying an invisible phase pattern would leave $|t{|}^2$ unchanged.

An optical filter that changes selected light's phase relative to other transmitted light. In phase-contrast microscopy, its ring can also attenuate the direct reference; the amplitude transmission and light intensity transmission must be distinguished. An amplitude transmission $a=1/2$ gives an intensity transmission $a^2=1/4$.

A phase object for which the relevant relative phase variations are much smaller than one radian. The Taylor expansion $e^{i\varphi }=1+i\varphi +O({\varphi }^2)$ separates a direct reference term from a small specimen term. A constant overall phase can be removed before making this approximation: phase-contrast microscopy measures spatial variations, not an absolute common phase.