In this paper, we introduce a modified inverted microscope system in which an objective with high NA (0.95) is located under high-vacuum conditions, and a time-correlated single photon counting system is used along with a modified photomultiplier tube for the characterization of single emitters under high-vacuum conditions. The modified inverted microscope system is designed to be simple, compact, and easy to handle. As an example, the optical properties of individual colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (CdSe/ZnS) were studied by using these systems. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved