JP3015912B2 - Confocal light scanner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a confocal laser scanner for rotating a Nipkow disk provided with a microlens at a high speed, and more particularly to a confocal optical scanner capable of using a plate type dichroic mirror.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a confocal optical scanner for rotating a Nipkow disk at a high speed is well known. FIG. 4 shows an example of this type of confocal optical scanner. In the figure,
The laser beam 1 passes through a microlens (not shown) provided on a microlens disc 2 and a dichroic mirror 4 of a cube type, respectively, and forms pinholes (small openings: not shown) formed in an array on the Nipkow disc 3. Z)
Focus on top.

The microlens disk 2 is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 4-1541 filed by the present applicant.
No. 1 (JP-A-5-60980) can be used. As shown in FIG. 5, the condensing disk 20 has a plurality of Fresnel lenses 22 formed on one surface of a glass substrate 21. Note that the Fresnel lens is formed such that its focal position is shifted sequentially in the radial direction by one screen. The dichroic mirror 4 is held in a space between the microlens disk 2 and the Nipkow disk 3 by a support mechanism (not shown).

The light focused on the pinhole of the Nipkow disc 3 passes through the objective lens 6 and irradiates the sample 7. Sample 7
The emitted fluorescent light passes through the objective lens 6 and focuses on the pinhole of the Nipkow disc 3, where a real image of the sample 7 is obtained. This image is reflected by the dichroic mirror 4, passes through the relay lens 8, and forms an image on the light receiving surface of the camera 9. The Nipkow disc 3 and the microlens disc 2 are connected, and are integrally rotated by a motor 5.

In such a configuration, a two-dimensional image of the sample surface is obtained on the light receiving surface of the camera 9 by rotating the microlens disk 2 and the Nipkow disk 3 and performing beam scanning on the surface of the sample 7.

[0006]

By the way, in such a conventional configuration, if the laser beam is perpendicularly incident on the microlens disk at 90 °, the optical axis cannot be bent by the cube type dichroic mirror 4. , Nipkow disk 3 having the same pattern as microlens disk 2
And the alignment of the microlens and the pinhole was easy. However, in the cube type dichroic mirror 4, since the film is made of glass both before and after the film and has the same refractive index, the separation of excitation and fluorescence is smaller than that of the plate type dichroic mirror in which one side has a large refractive index difference with air. There is a problem that it is difficult to obtain sharp characteristics.

In order to improve the performance of fluorescence measurement in a fluorescent confocal optical scanner, the above problem can be solved by using a plate type dichroic mirror. , The optical axis shifts by d as shown in FIG. For this reason, the hole positions of the microlens disk 2 and the Nipkow disk 3 could not be aligned. This problem occurs not only for the fluorescent type but also for the reflection type beam splitter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a confocal optical scanner that uses a plate-type beam splitter and that can accurately focus a condensing laser of a microlens disk on a Nipkow disk. is there.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there are provided two disks in which a plurality of microlenses and minute apertures are arranged in an array in the same pattern and integrated. In a confocal optical scanner including a rotating unit that rotates two disks, a beam splitter inserted between the two disks, and an objective lens disposed between the two disks and a sample,
A plate-type beam splitter was used as the beam splitter, and the optical axis of incident light incident on the microlens was inclined with respect to the vertical incident axis of the microlens, and the light incident on the microlens corresponded to the microlens. It is characterized in that the light is focused on a small aperture at the position.

[0010]

A plate-type beam splitter in which a plurality of microlenses and minute apertures are arranged in an array in the same pattern and inserted between two integrated disks is used. The optical axis of the incident light is significantly tilted with respect to the normal incidence axis of the microlens. Thus, the optical axis shift caused by the plate-type beam splitter can be canceled, and the incident light of the microlens can be focused on the corresponding minute opening.

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an essential part showing an embodiment of a confocal optical scanner according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged explanatory diagram of a dichroic mirror unit. The same parts as those in FIG.
The description of that part is omitted. In the figure, reference numeral 41 denotes a plate-type dichroic mirror, which is arranged between the microlens disk 2 and the Nipkow disk 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the optical axis of the laser light 1 is perpendicular to the vertical incidence axis 1 of the microlens of the microlens disk 2.
Light is incident at an angle θ from 0. Note that the inclination angle θ
Is determined in relation to the distance between the microlens disk 2 and the Nipkow disk 3 and the thickness of the dichroic mirror 41. The laser beam focused by the microlens is shifted in its optical axis by the dichroic mirror 41, passes through the pinhole of the Nipkow disc 3 adjusted immediately below the microlens disc in the same pattern, and is rotated on the sample by the motor 5. Is scanned.

The other operations are the same as those of the conventional example, and the description is omitted. As described above, the optical axis shift by the plate-type dichroic mirror can be corrected by inclining the laser beam and making it incident on the microlens disk 2.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. In the above embodiment, the optical axis of the laser light is inclined with respect to the vertical incident axis of the microlens. In the case of FIG. 3, the optical axis of the laser light is kept aligned with the vertical incident optical axis of the objective lens 6. The unit in which the microlens disk 2, the Nipkow disk 3, the dichroic mirror 41, and the motor 5 are integrated is inclined by θ with respect to the laser beam. In such a configuration, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

The present invention can be applied not only to a fluorescent confocal optical scanner but also to a reflective confocal optical scanner using a beam splitter (or a half mirror or a polarizing beam splitter) instead of a dichroic mirror. Can also be applied.

Also, the foregoing description of the invention merely illustrates certain preferred embodiments for purposes of explanation and illustration. Thus, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be modified or modified in many ways without departing from its essentials. The scope of the present invention defined by the description in the claims is intended to cover alterations and modifications within the scope.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, the optical axis deviation due to the plate-type dichroic mirror can be canceled by inclining the optical axis of the laser beam by a significant angle with respect to the microlens disk 2. Instead of a cube type, a plate type dichroic mirror having good excitation and fluorescence separation characteristics can be easily used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a confocal optical scanner according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged explanatory view of a dichroic mirror section.

FIG. 3 is a view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a main part configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional confocal optical scanner.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional example of a microlens disk.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining displacement of an optical axis in a dichroic mirror.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 laser light 2 microlens disk 3 Nipkow disk 4 dichroic mirror 5 motor 6 objective lens 7 sample 8 relay lens 9 camera 41 plate-type dichroic mirror

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-189601 (JP, A) JP-A-4-347801 (JP, A) JP-A-6-242380 (JP, A) JP-A-5-60980 (JP) , A) Japanese Utility Model Hei 4-89906 (JP, U) Table 5-58235 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 21/00 G02B 21/06- 21/36 G02B 26/10

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of microlenses and a plurality of microscopic apertures arranged in an array in the same pattern to form an integrated array; two integrated disks; a rotating means for rotating the two disks; In a confocal optical scanner having a beam splitter inserted therebetween, using a plate-type beam splitter as the beam splitter, the optical axis of the incident light incident on the microlens with respect to the normal incidence axis of the microlens A confocal optical scanner, wherein the light is inclined and light incident on the microlens is focused on the minute aperture at a position corresponding to the microlens. 2. A plurality of microlenses and microscopic apertures are arranged in an array in the same pattern, respectively, and are integrated into two disks; a rotating means for rotating the two disks; In a confocal optical scanner including a beam splitter inserted between the two disks and an objective lens disposed between the sample and the sample, a plate-type beam splitter is used as the beam splitter, The incident light is aligned with the vertical axis of the objective lens with respect to the vertical axis of the objective lens, and the two disks are integrally tilted with respect to the vertical axis of the objective lens. A confocal optical scanner characterized by being coincident with a vertical incidence axis of a lens.