Confocal scanning optical microscope with circular scan line

Masao Shimoji

doi:10.1117/12.256259

Abstract

A reflected-light confocal scanning optical microscope with circular scan line is described. For the horizontal scanning, the instrument uses a rotating dispersive prism embedded at the tip of a hollow motor shaft. The rotating hollow motor shaft accepts a polarized collimated laser beam and transforms it into a rotating beam, with a cone-shaped trajectory, on its exit from the prism. The rotating beam then passes through an inverted telescope and a quarter-wave plate before it is focused onto the specimen plane by a conventional microscope objective. To improve upon the ranging accuracy, a telecentric scan is maintained throughout the scan. The reflected light travels back through the same components until it is redirected by a beam splitter to pass through an analyzer and a pinhole before arriving at the detector. The use of the same optics for both illumination and imaging automatically satisfies the confocal requirement, and eliminates the need for a synchronizing mechanism. Also, the use of a rotating prism renders the system completely insensitive (for all practical purposes) to motor wobble.

Citation Download Citation

Masao Shimoji, "Confocal scanning optical microscope with circular scan line", Proc. SPIE 2863, Current Developments in Optical Design and Engineering VI, (1 November 1996); doi: 10.1117/12.256259; https://doi.org/10.1117/12.256259

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