JP2003043365A - Fault plane observation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fault plane observation device, with which a plurality of fault planes in an observation object are observed easily and simultaneously. SOLUTION: This fault plane observation device is equipped with a light source (1), where light beams condensed on the observation object (3) are made spatially parallel, and an optical system (2) for making the fault planes (31), on which the parallel beams emitted from the light source (1) form an image in the object (3) to differ for each light beam.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an apparatus for observing a plurality of tomographic planes in an observation target.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a confocal optical microscope based on the confocal principle has been known as an apparatus for observing a tomographic plane in an observation target.

As a typical configuration of this confocal optical microscope, there is a reflection type configuration shown in FIG. 3, in which light from a light source (a) is observed by a lens (a) at one point of an observation target (c). The light reflected by the observation target (C) is condensed by the lens (A), and the light passing through the pinhole (E) arranged at the condensing position is detected by the photodetector (C). It is designed to detect. The reflected light from the observation target (c) is directed to the photodetector (f) by the half mirror (d).

At this time, light from points other than the point P, which is the focus position of the lens (a), is blocked by the pinhole (e) and does not enter the photodetector (f). Therefore, it is possible to obtain data only from the point P in the observation target (c), that is, the tomographic plane.

Therefore, by changing the focal length of the lens (a) or by sequentially moving the stage (g) on which the observation target (c) is placed in the optical axis direction, the light beam from the light source (a) By sequentially changing the position where the light is condensed in the observation target (C), a plurality of cross-sectional images continuous in the optical axis direction can be obtained in the observation target (C).

[0006]

However, in the conventional reflection type confocal optical microscope as described above, in order to observe a plurality of tomographic planes within the observation target (C), the observation target (C) ) It is necessary to set and measure the surface on which the light rays are imaged in order in order, and it takes time to obtain data for all the target tomographic planes, so high-speed observation is not possible. There was a problem.

In particular, in real-time observation of biological reactions at various points in living tissue, product inspection, defect inspection, etc., there is a demand for fast-changing reactions, moving reactions, and tomographic plane measurement of an object. Conventional reflection-type confocal optical microscopes cannot meet the demand.

The invention of this application has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to easily observe a plurality of tomographic planes in an observation object, which can replace the conventional confocal optical microscope. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new fault plane observation device that can realize high-speed observation of multiple fault planes.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of the present application is, firstly, a light source in which light condensed on an observation target is spatially parallelized, and this light source. An optical system is provided, which is provided with an optical system that makes different tomographic planes formed by parallel light emitted from the imaging target in an observation target.

Secondly, the invention of this application is characterized in that the optical system is provided with a microlens array in which a plurality of lenses having different focal lengths are spatially arranged in parallel. A tomographic plane observing device, thirdly, a tomographic plane observing device comprising pinholes through which the reflected lights from the respective tomographic planes pass, respectively.
Also provides a tomographic plane observing device, which is provided with a photodetector that detects each of the reflected light from each tomographic plane that has passed through the pinhole.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The invention of this application has the characteristics as described above, and an embodiment thereof will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are each a main part configuration diagram illustrating a tomographic plane observation apparatus of the invention of this application. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the tomographic plane observing device of the invention of this application includes a light source (1) in which light focused on an observation target (3) is spatially parallelized. And an optical system (2) for changing the tomographic planes formed by the parallel light emitted from the light source (1) in the observation target (3). This makes it possible to easily and simultaneously observe a plurality of tomographic planes within the observation target (3) without performing sequential scanning of the observation region.

To explain further in this case, first, in the example of FIG. 1, a light source array (11) such as a surface emitting laser array in which a plurality of light sources (111) are spatially arranged in parallel is used as the light source (1). A plurality of lenses (21) having different focal lengths are provided as the optical system (2).
A multifocal lens array (21) in which 1) are spatially arranged in parallel is provided. The parallel light emitted from each light source (111) of the light source array (11) is focused into the observation target (3) by each lens (211) of the multifocal lens array (21) corresponding to each light source (111). It At this time, the tomographic planes (31) on which the parallel light forms an image within the observation target (3) are obtained at different positions because the focal lengths of the lenses (211) are different.

After that, the optical path of the reflected light from each of the tomographic planes (31) is changed by the half mirror (4), and the reflected light is applied to the pinhole (5) arranged at a position conjugate with the observation target (3). , If only the light that has passed through the pinhole (5) is detected by the photodetector (6), then a plurality of tomographic planes (3) in the observation target (3) can be obtained without scanning the light source or the observation target.
1) can be easily observed.

Further, the pinhole (5) and the photodetector (6) are provided with a plurality of pinholes (511) and photodetectors (611) so as to individually correspond to the reflected lights from the respective tomographic planes (31). ) Are arranged in parallel to form a pinhole array (51) and a photodetector array (61),
If light irradiation by each light source (111) is performed at the same time, a plurality of slice plane (31) data can be simultaneously acquired through each pinhole (511) and photodetector (611).

On the other hand, in contrast to FIG. 1 in which the multifocal lens array (21) plays a role as an objective lens, FIG.
In the above example, a multifocal microlens array (22) as an optical system (2) is provided near the emission side of the light source array (11), and the objective lens (7) is parallel to the multifocal microlens array (22). All light is observed at once (3)
It can be focused on.

More specifically, the multifocal microlens array (22) is composed of the light sources (11) of the light source array (11).
The same number of lenses (221) as in 1) are incorporated, and they are produced by using, for example, a diffractive optical technique. Of course, each lens (221) has a different focal length as in the multifocal lens array (21) in FIG. This multifocal microlens array (22)
The parallel light that has passed through each lens (221) propagates at a spread angle determined by the focal length, enters the objective lens (7), and forms an image within the observation target (3). At this time, since the focal length of the multifocal microlens array (22) differs depending on the location, the image forming positions of the parallel light within the observation target (3) are different.

The reflected light from each tomographic plane (31) passes through the objective lens (7), is refracted by the half mirror (4), and is transformed from the pinhole array (51) to the photodetector array (61). Detected simultaneously by.

On the incident side of the pinhole array (51), another multifocal microlens array (8) is arranged, and this multifocal microlens array (8) also corresponds to the light source array (11). The same number of lenses (8) as the light source (111)
1) is incorporated, and the reflected light from the tomographic plane (31) is reflected by the corresponding lens (81).
Each photodetector (611) of the photodetector array (61) through each pinhole (511) of the pinhole array (51)
Is focused on.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above examples, and various details can be made.

[0021]

As described in detail above, according to the invention of this application, a plurality of tomographic plane data in an observation target can be easily obtained without performing sequential scanning of an observation region as in the conventional case.
In addition, a new fault plane observation apparatus is provided that can be acquired simultaneously and realizes high-speed observation of multiple fault planes.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main part configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a tomographic plane observation apparatus of the invention of this application.

FIG. 2 is a main part configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the tomographic plane observing apparatus of the invention of this application.

FIG. 3 is a main part configuration diagram illustrating a conventional reflection-type confocal optical microscope.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 light source 11 Light source array 111 light source 2 Optical system 21 Multifocal lens array 211 lens 22 Multifocal microlens array 221 lens 3 observation target 31 Fault plane 4 half mirror 5 pinholes 51 pinhole array 511 pinhole 6 Photodetector 61 Photodetector array 611 Photodetector 7 Objective lens 8 Multifocal microlens array 81 lens

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A device for observing a plurality of tomographic planes in an observation target, wherein a light source in which light collected on the observation target is spatially parallelized and a parallel light emitted from the light source are An apparatus for observing a tomographic plane, comprising: an optical system that makes different tomographic planes to be imaged within an observation target. 2. The tomographic plane observation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical system includes a lens array in which a plurality of lenses having different focal lengths are spatially arranged in parallel. 3. The tomographic plane observing device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a pinhole through which reflected light from each tomographic plane passes. 4. The tomographic plane observing device according to claim 3, further comprising a photodetector for detecting each reflected light from each tomographic plane that has passed through the pinhole.