JP2005148296A - Light source apparatus of microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small-sized illuminator long in the servuce life of a light source and small in power consumption, and capable of sufficiently emitting bright light rays. <P>SOLUTION: The illuminator is equipped with a surface-emitting LED 101 for emitting illumination light, a radiator 102 for efficiently radiating heat generated by the surface-emitting LED 101, an LED driver 103 for driving the surface-emitting LED 101, a collector lens 104 positioned on the optical path of the illumination light emitted from the surface-emitting LED 101, and an aperture diaphragm 105 situated between the collector lens 104 and a specimen 106. The surface-emitting LED 101 uniformly radiates light from a light emitting surface of a specific size. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an illumination device for a microscope that illuminates a sample that is magnified and observed with a microscope.

  Conventional microscope illumination devices include those that reflect light from an external light source such as sunlight with a mirror, and those that irradiate other illumination light from the periphery like a stereomicroscope. Irradiates a sample to be observed through a Koehler illumination optical system with light from a lamp light source such as a halogen, xenon or mercury lamp.

  FIG. 12 schematically shows a configuration of a microscope including a conventional transmission illumination device. In this microscope, a collector lens 602, a field stop (FS) 603, and an aperture stop (AS) at a position where the light source 601 is imaged on an optical path of light emitted from a light source 601 of a lamp such as mercury or xenon. 604, and a condenser lens 605 is disposed between the AS 604 and the sample 606. An objective lens 607, an imaging lens 608, and a prism 609 are provided on the optical path opposite to the light source 601 with respect to the sample 606, and an eyepiece lens 610 is provided on the optical path reflected by the prism 609. .

  In this configuration, light emitted from the light source 601 passes through the collector lens 602 and enters the FS 603. The FS 603 can change the illumination range by changing the size of the stop. The illumination light that has passed through the FS 603 enters the AS 604, passes through the condenser lens 605, and uniformly illuminates the sample 606. The aperture of the AS 604 is at a position conjugate with the light source 601, and the NA can be changed by changing the size of the aperture.

  The illuminated sample 606 transmits part of the illumination light due to its characteristics. The light that has passed through the sample 606 is magnified by the objective lens 607 and the imaging lens 608, and the light path is reflected in a direction that can be easily observed by the prism 609 to form an image. By observing this image visually through the eyepiece lens 610, a transmission enlarged image of the sample 606 is observed.

Instead of such lamps such as halogen and mercury, proposals have been made to use LEDs, which are semiconductor light emitting elements, as a microscope light source. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-122694 proposes a configuration in which a plurality of LEDs are arranged two-dimensionally. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-543453 proposes a configuration in which one LED and a diffusion plate are combined, or a configuration in which light from a plurality of LEDs is synthesized through another optical system.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-122694 Special Table 2002-543453 gazette

  Lamps such as halogen and mercury have a short lamp life of about 300 hours for mercury and about 3000 hours for halogen.

  Conventional LEDs generally have a very small light emitting portion, and the light emitting portion is provided with a lens.

  As in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-543453, in a configuration in which one LED and a diffusion plate are combined, the brightness of light from the LED is made uniform by the diffusion plate. However, the LED is a darker light source than lamps such as halogen and mercury, and a diffusion plate is arranged in front of the LED, so that the light from the diffusion plate has sufficient brightness applicable for illumination purposes. Absent.

  In addition, even in a configuration in which a plurality of LEDs are arranged side by side as in Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-122694, the light emitting portions of a plurality of discretely located LEDs are in a state of being lit, so that the diffusion plate is also placed in front of the LEDs. Need to be placed. Accordingly, in this configuration as well, the light from the diffuser plate does not have sufficient brightness applicable for illumination purposes, as in the above-described configuration.

  A configuration in which light from a plurality of LEDs is combined through another optical system as in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-543453 causes an increase in the size of the optical system and does not take advantage of the small size that is characteristic of LEDs.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a small illumination device that emits sufficiently bright light with a long light source life, low power consumption.

  The present invention is an illuminating device that illuminates a sample observed with a microscope, and has a light source that emits illumination light, and the light source emits light uniformly from a certain region.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the lifetime of a light source is long, the power consumption is small, and the small illuminating device which radiates | emits sufficiently bright light is provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment This embodiment is directed to a microscope having an illumination device for critical transmission illumination. FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of a microscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the microscope according to the present embodiment is an upright type, and includes an observation optical system positioned above the sample 106 and an illumination device positioned below the sample 106.

  The observation optical system includes an objective lens 107 disposed near the sample 106, a prism 109 for bending the optical path, an imaging lens 108 positioned between the objective lens 107 and the prism 109, and an imaging with the objective lens 107. An eyepiece 110 for visually observing an image formed by the lens 108 is provided.

  The illuminating device includes a surface-emitting LED 101 that emits illumination light, a radiator 102 that efficiently radiates heat generated by the surface-emitting LED 101, an LED driver 103 that drives the surface-emitting LED 101, and an emission from the surface-emitting LED 101. A collector lens 104 positioned on the optical path of the illumination light to be emitted, and an aperture stop (AS) 105 positioned between the collector lens 104 and the sample 106.

  The surface emitting LED 101 is controlled to be turned on / off by the LED driver 103 and the brightness during lighting is adjusted. The LED driver 103 has, for example, a circuit configuration shown in FIG. That is, the LED driver 103 includes an operational amplifier and a Darlington-connected transistor.

  In the circuit configuration of FIG. 2, when the resistance value of the variable resistor 121 is changed, the voltage input to the operational amplifier 122 is changed, and accordingly, the voltage applied to the variable resistor 121 is also changed. As a result, since the value of the current flowing through the surface emitting LED 101 changes, the intensity of light emitted from the surface emitting LED 101 changes. That is, the intensity of light emitted from the surface emitting LED 101 can be adjusted by changing the resistance value of the variable resistor 121.

  The collector lens 104 and the AS 105 constitute a transmission illumination optical system that irradiates the sample 106 with illumination light emitted from the surface emitting LED 101. This transmission illumination optical system is a critical illumination optical system. Therefore, the light emitting surface of the surface emitting LED 101 and the sample 106 are in a conjugate relationship.

  In the microscope of the present embodiment configured as above, the light emitted from the surface emitting LED 101 passes through the collector lens 104 and illuminates the sample 106 via the AS 105. The AS 105 makes it possible to change the maximum incident angle (NA) of illumination by changing the size of the stop.

  The illuminated sample 106 transmits a part of the illumination light according to the specification. The light transmitted through the sample 106 is magnified by the objective lens 107 and the imaging lens 108 and imaged. In addition, the optical path between the imaging lens 108 and the imaging surface is bent in a direction suitable for observation by the prism 109. By observing the magnified image of the sample 106 by visual observation through the eyepiece 110, the transmission magnified image of the sample 106 is observed.

  Hereinafter, description is added about surface emitting LED101 which is a main element of an illuminating device.

  Conventional LEDs generally have a very small light emitting portion, and the light emitting portion is provided with a lens. The LEDs used in the devices disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-122694 and the Japanese Translation of PCT International Publication No. 2002-543453 mentioned as conventional examples are also of this type.

  However, recent LEDs have high power, and if the shape of the light emitting part is rectangular, the area is about 1 mm × 1 mm, and if the shape of the light emitting part is circular, the diameter is 0.5 mm. There are some things. Some of these high-power LEDs do not have a plastic lens, which is common in conventional LEDs. In general, the size of a light emitting portion of a lamp used in a microscope is 3 to 6 mm for a halogen lamp and about 0.5 mm for mercury, which is about the same size as a light emitting portion of a recent high power LED.

The surface-emitting LED 101 has a circular light-emitting portion having an area of (π / 2) (0.5 / 2) ² mm ² or more, or a rectangular light-emitting portion having an area of about 1 mm × 1 mm. Further, the surface emitting LED 101 emits light uniformly from a light emitting surface of a certain size. A normal LED has a lens in the light emitting portion, but the surface emitting LED 101 does not have such a lens, and the light emitting portion has a flat surface, that is, a flat surface. The power that can be input to the surface emitting LED 101 is about 1 to 5 W, which is 10 to 100 times that of a normal LED. For this reason, the surface emitting LED 101 emits a larger amount of heat than a normal LED, but this heat is dissipated by the radiator 102.

  The surface emitting LED 101 is a white LED that emits white light. Lamps such as halogen lamps and mercury lamps that are ordinary white light sources have a power consumption of 100 W and a lifetime of 200 to 3000 hours. On the other hand, the surface emitting LED 101 has a power consumption of 1 to 5 W, which is one-tenth of a lamp, and has a lifetime of 10,000 hours or more.

  In addition, lamps such as halogen lamps and mercury lamps consume about 100 W of electric power, and thus the amount of heat radiation is large. For this reason, a large lamp house is required. In addition, heat generated by the lamp may be transmitted to the microscope case, causing the case to thermally expand. The thermal expansion of the housing causes defocusing or moves the part being observed.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, the surface emitting LED 101 which is a light source does not emit such a large amount of heat. For this reason, since a large-sized lamp house is not required, an illuminating device can be comprised comparatively small. Further, the surface emitting LED 101 is not transmitted to the microscope case and does not adversely affect the microscope.

  In addition, lamps such as halogen lamps and mercury lamps do not emit light with uniform brightness from the light emitting portion. For example, in a halogen lamp, light is radiated from a filament. Therefore, illumination that projects a light source image onto a sample as in critical illumination causes unevenness in brightness. For this reason, Koehler illumination is generally used in illumination using a lamp light source. Koehler illumination is highly functional, such as being able to adjust AS and FS, but on the other hand, the optical system tends to be complex and large.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the surface emitting LED 101 is used as the light source, and the surface emitting LED 101 emits light with uniform brightness from the light emitting unit, and thus a critical illumination optical system is adopted as the illumination optical system. Is possible. For this reason, an illuminating device can be comprised small.

  Thus, the illuminating device of this embodiment uses the surface emitting LED 101 as the light source instead of the conventional lamp. For this reason, the power consumption of the light source is small and the lifetime is long. In addition, since the illumination device employs a critical illumination optical system, the configuration of the optical system is simple, and thus it can be configured in a small size.

Second Embodiment This embodiment is directed to a modification of the lighting device of the first embodiment. FIG. 3 schematically shows the configuration of a microscope according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, members denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the first embodiment are equivalent members, and detailed description thereof is omitted here to avoid duplication of description.

  In the microscope according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the illumination device positioned below the sample 106 has a surface emitting LED 101 arranged near the sample 106 placed on the stage 201, No optical components are arranged between the light emitting LED 101 and the sample 106. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  In the microscope of the present embodiment configured as described above, the white illumination light emitted from the surface emitting LED 101 illuminates the sample 106 on the stage 201 without passing through any optical component.

  The illuminated sample 106 transmits a part of the illumination light according to the specification. The light transmitted through the sample 106 is magnified by the objective lens 107 and the imaging lens 108 and imaged. In addition, the optical path between the imaging lens 108 and the imaging surface is bent in a direction suitable for observation by the prism 109. By observing the magnified image of the sample 106 by visual observation through the eyepiece 110, the transmission magnified image of the sample 106 is observed.

  Since the illumination device of the present embodiment uses the surface emitting LED 101 instead of the conventional lamp as the light source, the power consumption of the light source is small and the lifetime is long. In addition, since the illumination light emitted from the surface emitting LED 101 directly illuminates the sample, a complicated illumination optical system is not required, and therefore it can be configured very small.

Third Embodiment The present embodiment is directed to a fluorescence microscope having an illumination device for Koehler epi-illumination. FIG. 4 schematically shows the configuration of a fluorescence microscope according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the fluorescence microscope of the present embodiment is an upright type, and includes an observation optical system that is located above the sample 309 and an illumination device that is also located above the sample 309. Yes.

  The observation optical system includes an objective lens 308 disposed near the sample 309, a prism 312 for bending the optical path, an imaging lens 311 positioned between the objective lens 308 and the prism 312, and imaging with the objective lens 308. And an eyepiece lens 313 for visually observing an image formed by the lens 311.

  The observation optical system further includes a barrier filter 310 positioned between the objective lens 308 and the imaging lens 311, and a dichroic mirror (DM) 307 positioned between the objective lens 308 and the barrier filter 310. . The barrier filter 310 transmits light having a specific wavelength. More specifically, the barrier filter 310 selectively transmits the fluorescence generated from the sample 309. The DM 307 reflects light having a specific wavelength and transmits light having a specific wavelength. More specifically, the DM 307 reflects excitation light, which is illumination light, from the illumination device and transmits fluorescence generated from the sample 309.

  The illuminating device includes a surface emitting LED 301 that emits illumination light, and a radiator 302 that efficiently radiates heat generated by the surface emitting LED 301.

  The illumination device includes a DM 307 and an objective lens 308. That is, the observation optical system and the illumination device share the DM 307 and the objective lens 308.

  The illuminating device includes a collector lens 303 that converges illumination light (excitation light) emitted from the surface emitting LED 301 on an optical path between the surface emitting LED 301 and the DM 307, and an aperture stop (on the imaging surface of the surface emitting LED 301). (AS) 304, a relay lens 305 positioned between AS 304 and DM 307, and a field stop (FS) 306 positioned between two convex lenses constituting the relay lens 305.

  The collector lens 303, the AS 304, the relay lens 305, and the FS 306 constitute an epi-illumination optical system that cooperates with the DM 307 and the objective lens 308 to irradiate the sample 309 with illumination light (excitation light) emitted from the surface emitting LED 301. ing. This epi-illumination optical system is a Kohler illumination optical system.

  The surface-emitting LED 301 is driven by an LED driver similar to the LED driver 103 of the first embodiment, and lighting / extinguishing is controlled and brightness during lighting is adjusted.

The surface emitting LED 301 is a surface emitting LED similar to the surface emitting LED 101 of the first embodiment. Accordingly, the surface-emitting LED 301 has a circular light-emitting portion having an area of (π / 2) (0.5 / 2) ² mm ² or more, or a rectangular light-emitting portion having an area of about 1 mm × 1 mm. Further, the surface emitting LED 301 emits light uniformly from a light emitting surface of a certain size. The power that can be input to the surface emitting LED 301 is about 1 to 5 W, which is 10 to 100 times that of a normal LED. The power consumption of the surface-emitting LED 301 is 1 to 5 W, which is a few tenths of the lamp, and the lifetime is 10,000 hours or more.

  In the present embodiment, the surface-emitting LED 301 is not a white LED, but a monochromatic LED that emits excitation light having the wavelength characteristics shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, the DM 307 reflects light in the wavelength region of excitation light emitted from the surface emitting LED 301 and transmits light in the wavelength region of fluorescence generated from the sample 309. Have. Further, as shown in FIG. 5C, the barrier filter 310 blocks light in the wavelength region of excitation light emitted from the surface emitting LED 301 and transmits light in the wavelength region of fluorescence generated from the sample 309. It has characteristics.

  These wavelength characteristics vary depending on the fluorescent dye used. For example, when observing FITC, since the maximum excitation wavelength is 490 nm and the maximum fluorescence wavelength is 520 nm, the surface emitting LED 301 emits light of a blue (B excitation) wavelength, that is, a wavelength of 460 to 490 nm. Applies. The DM 307 reflects light having a wavelength of 460 to 490 nm and transmits light having a wavelength longer than 510 nm. The barrier filter 310 selectively transmits light having a wavelength longer than 510 nm. Applies.

  In the fluorescence microscope of the present embodiment configured as described above, the illumination light (excitation light) emitted from the surface emitting LED 101 passes through the collector lens 303, the AS 304, the relay lens 305 and the FS 306, is reflected by the DM 307, and is an objective lens. The sample 309 is illuminated via 308.

  The AS 304 is at a position optically conjugate with the light emitting surface of the surface emitting LED 101, and the maximum incident angle (NA) of illumination can be changed by changing the size of the stop. The FS 306 is at a position optically conjugate with the sample 309, and the size of the illumination range projected onto the sample can be changed by changing the size of the stop. Since the illumination optical system of the illumination device is a Kohler illumination optical system, the back focal plane of the objective lens 308 and the light emitting surface of the surface emitting LED 101 are in a conjugate relationship.

  The illuminated sample 309 is excited by the illumination light and emits fluorescence. Fluorescence generated from the sample 309 passes through the objective lens 308, passes through the DM 307 and the barrier filter 310, and is enlarged and imaged by the imaging lens 311 as described above. The optical path between the imaging lens 311 and the imaging surface is bent in a direction suitable for observation by the prism 312. By observing the enlarged image of the sample 309 visually through the eyepiece lens 313, the transmission enlarged image of the sample 309 is observed.

  Since the illumination device of the present embodiment uses the surface emitting LED 301 instead of the conventional lamp as the light source, the power consumption of the light source is small and the lifetime is long. Further, since the surface emitting LED 301 is a monochromatic LED, an excitation filter that is indispensable in a configuration using a conventional white light source is not required. Furthermore, the area of the light emitting portion of the surface emitting LED 301 is about 0.5 mm × 0.5 mm to 2 mm × 2 mm, the area of the light emitting portion of a lamp that is effectively used in a conventional microscope, about 3 mmφ of halogen, mercury Since it is approximately equal to about 0.5 mmφ, the illumination optical system can be used without modification.

Fourth Embodiment This embodiment is directed to a modification of the lighting device of the first embodiment. FIG. 6 schematically shows the configuration of a microscope according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, members denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the first embodiment are equivalent members, and detailed description thereof is omitted here to avoid duplication of description. Below, it demonstrates focusing on a different part from 1st embodiment.

  The illuminating device of this embodiment has a lamp house 405 that houses the surface-emitting LED 101 and the radiator 102, and has a connector that is a holding mechanism that detachably holds the surface-emitting LED 101 to the lamp house 405. . The connector has exactly the same structure as that of a lamp that is a normal white light source. That is, the connector includes, for example, a plug provided on the light source side and a socket for receiving the plug, as is generally known.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the mercury lamp 480 includes a pair of plugs 481 protruding symmetrically on both sides with respect to the central light emitting portion 482. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the heat radiator 102 to which the surface emitting LED 101 is fixed includes a pair of plugs 404 protruding symmetrically on both sides. The plug 404 has the same shape as the plug 481 of the mercury lamp 480. Further, the positional relationship of the plug 404 with respect to the light emitting portion of the central surface emitting LED 101 is exactly the same as the positional relationship of the plug 481 with respect to the central light emitting portion 482 of the mercury lamp 480.

  For this reason, the lamp house 405 may be formed of a normal mercury lamp house, and the radiator 102 to which the surface emitting LED 101 is fixed can be attached via a plug 404 to a portion to which the mercury lamp 480 is attached, that is, a socket. .

  In an ordinary mercury lamp house, a high voltage is supplied to the mercury lamp 480 from the socket through the plug 481. On the other hand, since the surface emitting LED 101 cannot be used at such a high voltage, the plug 404 is made of an insulator.

  In the present embodiment, the illumination device includes a collector lens 406 that converges the illumination light emitted from the surface emitting LED 101 on the optical path between the surface emitting LED 101 and the sample 106, and a condenser disposed near the sample 106. A lens 409, a field stop (FS) 407 that is in a conjugate relationship with the sample 106 with respect to the condenser lens 409, and an aperture stop (AS) 408 that is in a conjugate with the light emitting surface of the surface emitting LED 101 with respect to the collector lens 406. Have.

  The collector lens 406, the FS 407, the AS 408, and the condenser lens 409 constitute a transmission illumination optical system that irradiates the sample 106 with illumination light emitted from the surface emitting LED 101. This transmission illumination optical system is a Kohler illumination optical system.

  In the microscope of the present embodiment configured as described above, the illumination light emitted from the surface emitting LED 101 passes through the collector lens 406, the FS 407, the AS 408, and the condenser lens 409 to illuminate the sample 106.

  The AS 408 is at a position optically conjugate with the light emitting surface of the surface emitting LED 101, and the maximum incident angle (NA) of illumination can be changed by changing the size of the stop. The FS 407 is at a position optically conjugate with the sample 106, and the size of the illumination range projected onto the sample can be changed by changing the size of the stop. Since the illumination optical system of the illumination device is a Kohler illumination optical system, the rear focal plane of the condenser lens 409 and the light emitting surface of the surface emitting LED 101 are in a conjugate relationship.

  The illuminated sample 106 transmits a part of the illumination light according to the specification. The light transmitted through the sample 106 is magnified by the objective lens 107 and the imaging lens 108 and imaged. The optical path between the imaging lens 108 and the imaging surface is bent in a direction suitable for observation by the prism 109. By observing the magnified image of the sample 106 visually through the eyepiece 110, the transmission magnified image of the sample 106 is observed.

  The illumination device of this embodiment uses a surface emitting LED 101 as a light source instead of a conventional lamp. For this reason, the power consumption of the light source is small and the lifetime is long. In addition, since the radiator 102 is provided with a plug similar to a normal lamp, the surface-emitting LED 101 can be attached to a normal lamp house without changing the microscope. Further, as in the third embodiment, the illumination optical system can be used as it is.

Fifth Embodiment This embodiment is directed to a modification of the lighting device of the third embodiment. FIG. 9 schematically shows the configuration of a fluorescence microscope according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, members denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the third embodiment are equivalent members, and detailed description thereof is omitted here to avoid duplication of description. In the following, description will be given with emphasis on the difference from the third embodiment.

  The illuminating device of this embodiment has a lamp house 505 that accommodates a surface emitting LED 301 and a radiator 302, and has a connector that is a holding mechanism that detachably holds the surface emitting LED 301 on the lamp house 505. . The connector has exactly the same structure as that of a lamp that is a normal white light source. That is, the connector includes, for example, a plug provided on the light source side and a socket for receiving the plug, as is generally known.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the halogen lamp 580 includes a pair of plugs 581 that protrude substantially in parallel in the same direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the radiator 302 to which the surface emitting LED 301 is fixed is attached to a substrate 503 on which an LED driver is mounted, and the substrate 503 protrudes in a substantially parallel manner in the same direction. The plug 504 is provided. The plug 504 has the same shape as the plug 581 of the halogen lamp 580. The positional relationship of the plug 504 with respect to the light emitting portion of the surface emitting LED 301 is exactly the same as the positional relationship of the plug 581 with respect to the filament 582 of the halogen lamp 580.

  For this reason, the lamp house 505 may be formed of a normal halogen lamp house, and a substrate 503 on which a surface emitting LED 301 and a radiator 302 are mounted is attached to a portion to which the halogen lamp 580 is attached, that is, a socket via a plug 504. Can do.

  In a normal halogen lamp house, a relatively low voltage of about 6 to 12 V is supplied to the halogen lamp 580 from the socket through the plug 581. Further, since the driving voltage of the surface emitting LED 301 is about 3 to 5 V, the voltage supplied to the halogen lamp can be used as it is as the power supply voltage of the LED driver mounted on the substrate 503.

For this reason, the plug 504 extending from the substrate 503 is formed of a conductor, and the plug 504 is electrically connected to the LED driver mounted on the substrate 503, and can provide a necessary voltage to the LED driver. That is, the connector can supply power to the surface emitting LED 301.
In addition to the same advantages as in the third embodiment, the illumination device of this embodiment has a plug that is the same as that of a normal halogen lamp, and the substrate 503 on which the surface-emitting LED 301 is mounted changes the microscope. The surface emitting LED 301 can be attached to a normal lamp house without any problems.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Also good.

  For example, in the first embodiment, the illumination optical system is a critical illumination optical system for transmitted illumination, but a Kohler illumination optical system used in a conventional lamp may be applied. In the first embodiment, the second embodiment, and the fourth embodiment, the surface-emitting LED 101 is a white LED, but may be a single-color LED for transmission fluorescence observation. In the third embodiment and the fifth embodiment, the illumination optical system is an epi-illumination Koehler illumination optical system, but a critical illumination optical system may be applied. The surface emitting LED 101 is a monochromatic LED, but may be a white LED.

  The white LED may have a color temperature different from that of the conventional light source. In this case, the white LED may be combined with a filter that converts the color temperature. In fluorescence observation, it can be considered that a white LED is combined with an excitation filter so that it is the same as fluorescence observation with a normal white light source. Further, depending on the oscillation wavelength of the monochromatic LED, it is conceivable to add an excitation filter in fluorescence observation and perform observation with an increased S / N.

  In the embodiments described so far, the surface emitting LED has been exemplified in which the lens is not provided in the light emitting unit, but may be of the type in which the lens is provided in the light emitting unit. In this case, a concave lens may be combined with the optical system as disclosed in JP-A-2001-201692.

  Furthermore, in the embodiment, only a configuration for visual observation is illustrated, but a configuration for acquiring an image by a CCD may be used.

  In the first embodiment, the second embodiment, and the fourth embodiment, it is also conceivable to configure a disk scanning microscope by combining disks having pinholes and slits.

1 schematically shows a configuration of a microscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 2 shows a circuit configuration of the LED driver shown in FIG. 1. 2 schematically shows a configuration of a microscope according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 3 schematically shows a configuration of a fluorescence microscope according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The oscillation wavelength characteristic (a) of the surface emitting LED of FIG. 4, the reflectance characteristic (b) of the dichroic mirror of FIG. 4, and the transmittance characteristic (c) of the barrier filter of FIG. 4 are shown. 6 schematically shows a configuration of a microscope according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The mercury lamp which is a normal white light source is shown. 7 shows a surface emitting LED shown in FIG. 9 schematically shows a configuration of a fluorescence microscope according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. A halogen lamp which is a normal white light source is shown. 10 shows a surface emitting LED shown in FIG. 1 schematically shows a configuration of a microscope including a conventional transmitted illumination device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Surface emitting LED, 102 ... Radiator, 103 ... LED driver, 104 ... Collector lens, 105 ... Aperture stop, 106 ... Sample, 107 ... Objective lens, 108 ... Imaging lens, 109 ... Prism, 110 ... Eyepiece, 121 ... variable resistor, 122 ... operational amplifier, 201 ... stage, 301 ... surface emitting LED, 302 ... heat sink, 303 ... collector lens, 304 ... aperture stop, 305 ... relay lens, 306 ... field stop, 307 ... dichroic mirror, 308 ... objective lens, 309 ... sample, 310 ... barrier filter, 311 ... imaging lens, 312 ... prism, 313 ... eyepiece, 404 ... plug, 405 ... lamp house, 406 ... collector lens, 407 ... field stop, 408 ... aperture Aperture, 409 ... condenser lens, 503 ... substrate 504 ... plug, 505 ... lamp house.

Claims (13)

An illumination apparatus for a microscope, which is an illumination apparatus that illuminates a sample observed with a microscope, and has a light source that emits illumination light, and the light source is a single surface emitting LED that emits light uniformly from a certain region. 2. The illumination apparatus for a microscope according to claim 1, further comprising an illumination optical system that irradiates the sample with illumination light from a light source, wherein the illumination optical system is a Kohler illumination optical system. 2. The microscope illumination apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an illumination optical system that irradiates the sample with illumination light from a light source, wherein the illumination optical system is a critical illumination optical system. 4. The illumination apparatus for a microscope according to claim 2, wherein the illumination optical system is the same as the illumination optical system of a conventional white light source. 4. The microscope illumination apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the illumination optical system is a transmission illumination optical system. 4. The microscope illumination apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the illumination optical system is an epi-illumination optical system. 2. The microscope illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the surface-emitting LED is disposed near the sample, and the illumination light emitted from the surface-emitting LED illuminates the sample without passing through any optical component. 2. The microscope illumination device according to claim 1, further comprising a holding mechanism that detachably holds the surface emitting LED, and the holding mechanism is the same as a holding mechanism of a lamp that is a normal white light source. 9. The illumination device for a microscope according to claim 8, wherein the holding mechanism can supply power to the surface emitting LED. The illumination device for a microscope according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a heat dissipating means for dissipating heat generated from the surface emitting LED. 5. The illumination device for a microscope according to claim 1, wherein the surface-emitting LED includes a light-emitting portion having an area of (π / 2) (0.5 / 2) ² mm ² or more. The illumination device for a microscope according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the surface-emitting LED is a white LED. 4. The microscope illumination apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the illumination optical system includes color temperature conversion means for converting the color temperature on an optical path from the surface emitting LED to the sample.

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